Crypto Visa card: a virtual Visa funded with USDT
A crypto Visa card from Unlockd is a virtual US dollar Visa card that you load from a USDT balance. Before any money moves, you see a quote with the conversion and the fee.
What does Visa do for a crypto Visa card?
Visa is the payment network that connects your card to the merchant. The Unlockd card is issued on Visa, so online merchants that accept US dollar Visa cards can take it, apart from the restricted categories listed below.
For each purchase, Visa does three jobs. It routes the authorization request, so the issuer can approve or decline it against your card balance. It settles the payment between the issuer and the merchant's bank. When a merchant charges in another currency, Visa converts the amount to US dollars at its exchange rate, and any conversion fee that applies is listed on the fees page.
A crypto currency Visa card does not spend crypto at the checkout. The merchant sees an ordinary Visa card payment. The crypto step happens earlier, when you turn USDT into a US dollar load on the card. That makes a USDT Visa card one kind of stablecoin Visa card, and Visa says stablecoin-linked cards connect crypto wallets to its network so people can spend at merchants that take Visa.
What does virtual mean for this Visa card?
Virtual means there is no plastic card. Your card is a card number, an expiry date and a CVV that you reveal on demand in the app when you want to pay online.
Unlockd does not store your card number or CVV. You can freeze the card in the app and unfreeze it when you are ready, and your transaction history shows each purchase. Like any prepaid crypto card, it spends only the US dollars you loaded.
You sign in with Telegram or a verified email and password, and one is enough. The same account works on the website and in the Telegram Mini App.
How do purchase checks work on a Visa crypto card?
A purchase check confirms that the person paying online is really you. On Visa, these checks run through Visa Secure, which is Visa's program built on the EMV 3-D Secure standard.
Many purchases are approved without an extra step. When a check is needed, you enter a one-time code or approve the purchase in the app, as shown in how purchase checks work. Unlockd delivers these codes only to you, the verified account owner. Never share a code with anyone, even someone who says they work for Unlockd.
How does a USDT balance become US dollars on the card?
You hold a USDT balance in Unlockd, and you move money onto the card by accepting a quote. You can fund the balance with USDT or another coin listed on the deposit screen, and the payment processor credits the USDT actually settled, after network and processing fees. The USDT card page covers funding in more detail.
- USDTTether USDon Tron (TRC-20), Ethereum (ERC-20) or BNB Smart Chain (BEP-20)
- USDCUSD Coinon Ethereum (ERC-20)
- BTCBitcoinon Bitcoin
- ETHEtheron Ethereum
- LTCLitecoinon Litecoin
- XMRMoneroon Monero
Every deposit lands as USDT on your balance. The deposit screen shows any network or service fees before you pay. Send only the coin you chose, on the network shown in your payment request.
- Fund your USDT balance
Pay a deposit in USDT or another listed coin, on the network shown in your payment request. Your balance is credited with the USDT actually settled.
- Choose the US dollar amount
Enter how many US dollars you want on the card, within the minimum and maximum load.
- Read the quote
The quote shows the USDT that leaves your balance, the load fee and the US dollars the card receives. Nothing moves until you accept it.
- Accept and follow the status
After you accept, the status screen shows the real progress of the load until the card balance updates.
Your first card works the same way. You accept a quote for the issuance price, and issuance usually completes within minutes, with the status screen showing its real progress. The starting balance included with the card stays on the card and is not added to your USDT balance.
- Card issuance
- $12
- Includes $5 starting balance on the new card
- Card load fee
- 4%
- Of each load amount, added to what you pay
- Authorization attempt
- $0.30
- Every attempt, including declines
- EUR FX conversion
- 1%
- Applies to EUR purchases on the USD card
- Card loads
- $10 to $5,000
- Per load, in US dollars
Pricing version 2026-11-whole-cents. Every card purchase and load shows an exact USDT quote before you confirm it. All fees and limits
- Card receives
- 50.00USD
- In USDT1 USD ≈ 1.011 USDT
- 50.55USDT
- Top-up fee (4.00%)
- 2.03USDT
Live estimate, rate checked 9 Nov 2026, 15:29 UTC. Your quote in the app is exact and valid for a short time.
The quote you accept is what you pay for that issuance or load.
Where does the crypto Visa card work, and where does it not?
The card works with online merchants that accept US dollar Visa cards, within the limits in this table.
| Use | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Online stores, apps and subscriptions that accept Visa | Available | Restricted categories excluded |
| Purchases priced in other currencies | Available | Converted to US dollars at Visa's rate; any conversion fee is listed on the fees page |
| Apple Pay and Google Pay | Where supported | Depends on your wallet, region and the card program |
| ATM cash withdrawal | Not available | The card has no cash access |
| Physical card | Not available | Virtual card only |
| Restricted merchant categories | Not available | Including money transfers and quasi-cash, investments and brokerage, and gambling |
| Your country of residence | Check eligibility | Some countries and territories are not served |
A card needs a verified contact email, and some countries and merchant categories are restricted, so check eligibility before you sign up. For phone wallets, read how to add a crypto card to Apple Pay or Google Pay.
Physical cards, ATM cash withdrawal, cashback or rewards, referrals, bank payouts, withdrawing crypto back out and card PIN management are not available. Closing a card is not available yet.
Visa network facts
These figures describe the Visa network that any crypto card on Visa uses, as Visa publishes them. They are not Unlockd figures, and they do not mean every merchant accepts every card.
| Fact | Figure | Date of figure |
|---|---|---|
| Countries and territories | More than 200 | Visa fact sheet, FY26 |
| Merchant locations | More than 175 million, including an estimated 64 million through payment facilitators | June 30, 2025 |
| Payment credentials | About 5 billion | June 30, 2025 |
| Total transactions | 329 billion | 12 months ended September 30, 2025 |
| Financial institutions | About 14,500 | September 30, 2025 |
| Online purchase checks | Visa Secure, built on EMV 3-D Secure | Visa product page, read November 9, 2026 |
| Phone wallet tokens | Visa Token Service substitutes card numbers with tokens | Visa product page, read November 9, 2026 |
Crypto Visa card questions
Does Visa allow crypto purchases?
Visa allows crypto-linked card programs, and each issuer decides which purchases its card can make. Visa says stablecoin-linked cards connect crypto wallets to its network for spending at Visa merchants.
On the Unlockd card you spend US dollars loaded from USDT. Money transfers, quasi-cash, and investments and brokerage are restricted categories, so the card is not for buying crypto.
How do you get a crypto ATM card?
A crypto ATM card is a card whose issuer allows ATM cash withdrawals, so look for a provider whose terms include ATM access.
The Unlockd card does not support ATM cash withdrawal. It is a virtual card for online purchases.
Can I withdraw cash from a crypto card?
Some crypto cards allow ATM withdrawals, but the Unlockd card does not.
Withdrawing crypto back out and bank payouts are also not available, so load only what you plan to spend.
How much does it cost to get a crypto card?
The cost depends on the provider, and Unlockd publishes its prices on the fees page.
With Unlockd you pay the issuance price for the card and a load fee on each load, each shown as a quote before you accept.
Is the Crypto.com card a credit card?
It depends on the product, so check the card terms that Crypto.com publishes for the card you are looking at.
Some crypto brands offer more than one card type. For example, Bread Financial announced in April 2025 a Crypto.com Visa Signature credit card for the US. We do not review other providers' cards here.
Is the Unlockd card a credit card?
No. The Unlockd card is prepaid: you spend only the US dollars you loaded, and there is no credit line.
A prepaid card is not linked to a bank account and does not lend you money. Unlockd is not a bank, and the card holds a prepaid balance.
Is there a crypto Mastercard version of the card?
No. The Unlockd card is issued on Visa only, in US dollars, for online merchants that accept Visa US dollar cards.
The card is issued by a licensed partner institution, whose cardholder terms apply.
Create your Unlockd account Eligibility rules apply. You see a quote before every payment.
Sources
- Visa Fact Sheet: A global payments technology company at a glance (FY26)
- Visa Secure EMV 3-D Secure for Merchants | Visa
- EMV® 3-D Secure | EMVCo
- Visa Token Service | Visa
- Currency Converter - Exchange Rate Calculator | Visa
- Empowering the future of payments with stablecoins | Visa
- How are prepaid cards, debit cards, and credit cards different? | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- Crypto.com selects Bread Financial® to launch new crypto-based rewards credit card program in the U.S.