The three types differ on one central question: where does the money come from when you pay?
| Type | Source of funds | Your exposure |
|---|---|---|
| Debit | Money already in your account | The funds leave your control and are held by the card issuer. |
| Prepaid | A balance you added in advance | The same custody exposure; balances are generally not covered by deposit insurance. |
| Credit | The issuer advances funds and you repay later | You take on a repayment obligation and may owe interest. |
Most stablecoin cards are debit or prepaid cards. That means control of your stablecoins usually moves from your wallet to the issuer when you top up.
Why the classification matters
Many people think of a stablecoin card as money “wrapped in a card,” but that is not how the underlying arrangement usually works.
Custodial vs. self-custodial
- Custodial: you transfer USDT or USDC to an account on the card platform. The platform holds the assets and deducts them when you spend. Most stablecoin cards use this model.
- Self-custodial: funds remain in an on-chain smart contract or your own wallet and are settled through a contract when you pay. In our database, ether.fi Cash and Ethena Pay are examples in this direction.
Custody creates platform risk. In the discontinued products in our archive—BitMart Card (issuer license revoked), Nebeus Card (issuer license withdrawn), and TRASTRA (operator entered insolvency liquidation)—user funds were held on the platform side.
Whether balances are protected
Prepaid-card balances are generally not covered by bank deposit-guarantee schemes. They are e-money or payment-account balances, with a different legal status from bank deposits.
This does not mean every prepaid card is unsafe. It means you should not assume that a bank will make you whole.
Common types of stablecoin cards
Using the categories in our database, stablecoin cards broadly fall into:
- Exchange cards (28): issued by exchanges and charged against exchange-account balances, such as OKX Card, Binance Card Global, and Kraken Card.
- Independent wallets and payment cards (45): issued by standalone brands or wallets, such as RedotPay, Wirex One, and Bitrefill Card.
- On-chain and self-custodial cards (37): with a funding path linked to smart contracts or self-custodial accounts, such as ether.fi Cash, Ethena Pay, and Plasma One.
- Discontinued and historical records (10): services that have ended, retained for identification and research.
This classification is more useful than asking “Visa or Mastercard?” because it directly addresses who holds your money.
Virtual cards vs. physical cards
This is another commonly confused dimension, but it is separate from the debit, prepaid, and credit categories:
- Virtual card: a card number for online payments; it may also be added to Apple Pay or Google Wallet.
- Physical card: a plastic card for in-person payments and ATM withdrawals.
The same product can offer both virtual and physical versions with the same funding model. The differences are use cases and issuance cost. RedotPay's listed prices—$10 for a virtual card and $100 for a physical card—are an example of tiered pricing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a stablecoin card a credit card?
Usually not. Most are debit or prepaid cards that spend a balance you have already added. A few products offer borrowing against collateral, such as ether.fi Cash's Borrow mode or Nexo Card's Credit mode; these involve interest and repayment obligations and should be assessed separately.
Are prepaid-card balances safe?
It depends on whether the issuer is licensed and how the funds are safeguarded. Prepaid balances are generally not covered by deposit insurance. We recommend not leaving a large balance on any card platform.
Why do some cards use the word “credit”?
It may be the name of a card tier, such as Visa Classic Credit, or the product may genuinely provide a credit line. Check whether the agreement requires repayment; the card-face label alone is not enough.
Which is safer, a virtual card or a physical card?
A virtual card has no physical card to be skimmed or lost in the mail, and its number may be replaceable. A physical card supports in-person acceptance and ATM withdrawals. Most safety differences come from how the card is used, not from the medium itself.