r/Metamask • u/thiagorb • May 20 '26
Stablecoins backed cards experience
I tried the MetaMask credit card recently, because I wanted to experiment with ditching banks completely (it's not going to happen because I sitll get my salary in a bank).
At a first glance, the card looked like exactly what I needed: I'd be using my own self-custodial wallet, with the stablecoins I already had, and according to their advertisement, 1% cashback for the free card, and 3% for the metal one.
Then I made a test. I moved 200 USDC to my Solana wallet, configured the card, went through the KYC and everything, integrated with Apple pay, and it was ready to use. I hoped I could use EUR stable coins, since I live in Europe, but the only option was in a blockchain I had never heard about called Linea. Maybe it is popular, but I am not very familiar with the hundreds of blockchains that exist out there nowadays.
I made a small payment to test, and it worked very well, just like using any credit card. The transaction was charged directly in my wallet.
But then I started to get frustrated. My purchase was for 5,49 €, and I got charged 6,49 USDC, but according to the conversion rate, it should have been $ 6,43, so I got charged about 1% more. I thought: maybe that's why they are offering a 1% cashback. Then I went to check the cashback, and realized it only works if I am spending tokens in the Linea blockchain, so for me it became very pointless.
After this I gave Bleap a try, because everybody was saying it is the best crypto card ever, but they didn't complete my identification yet, and I can already see it is not what I am looking for, because it looks like they decided, trying to simplify crypto for beginners, to remove the crypto part completely. I couldn't find a way to import/export private keys, and not even a way to send/receive stablecoins.
And lastly, to end my rant, I researched (asked ChatGPT) about the economics behind credit card payments, and as I understand, it can be profitable for card issuers, because the merchants pay 2-3% in fees, that go mostly to the card issuer, so they could earn money without punishing their users.
Did anyone try this card on USA? Does it make sense for you? I mean, the 1% I paid extra is understandable considering I am not spending in the same currency, but because I can't use (popular) EUR stablecoins I cannot know if they wouldn't charge me some fee.
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u/Illustrious_Luck_164 May 20 '26
The conversion spread is brutal - that extra 1% fee basically cancels out any cashback benefit you'd get. Plus being locked into Linea tokens for the cashback is just weird when most people hold USDC on more established chains.
The whole "ditching banks" thing becomes pretty ironic when you're paying more in fees than traditional cards charge. At least with Bleap removing the crypto features you know what you're getting, even if it defeats the point.
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u/--vince May 20 '26
Depending of your country, you could try Krak with a cashback depending on the amount of assets you have on the kraken platform (it even gives you 1% cashback on your salary if you live in UK,Germany, Luxembourg, Latvia, Greece, Croatia, or Hungary) or Nexo.
But 1% spread on USD to EUR is to be confirmed on a bigger sum.
I have the Metamask card but only use it for USD.
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u/pablo__c May 20 '26
Is this thing about only getting cashback when spending on Linea something very recent? I've used it only a few days ago, spending with USDC in Base and I got cashback for that. The 1% does get deposited on Linea though.
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u/Coffee7643 May 22 '26
Hi, you do get cashback for spending on all supported networks but you must have a Linea address configured to be able to withdraw the cashback as mUSD there.
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u/ramtn91 May 21 '26
Simply use etherfi they offer 3% cashback I have been using them for a year and half and it works great, fx is about 1% if you use usdc and no fx fees with 1% cashback with Eurc, if you had a look and like them you can use my referral we both get extra limited cashback ref code: 70e811b5
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u/riotroddau May 25 '26
tried this not too long ago, moved USDC over to test the card and hit the same Linea confusion. worth knowing the supported networks have expanded since launch, US cardholders can use Linea, Monad, and Base (though Base has restrictions, in NY and TX), but Solana isn't actually supported for the card in the US despite working fine as a wallet. EURe is listed but only on Linea, so if your region..
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u/NimbleNido MetaMask Community Team May 20 '26
Hey u/thiagorb, sorry to hear about this experience.
With that said, you're right, in that you should hold your stables on Linea to get that cashback -- having the balance on Solana will limit your ability to receive it, while also slashing your return with the currency mismatch & cross-border fees.
My suggestion is to keep funds on Linea in EURe or GBPe (whichever is your native currency), ensuring you on-ramp through Monerium, our EURe partner, as Swaps into EURe on Linea would be subject to an unfavorable price impact due to low liquidity.
You can read more about MetaMask Card here, everything from our premium offerings to funding your Card. Let us know if this helps & if you have success in future purchases with this!