Finding a crypto card that offers high cashback without the need to hand over private keys to a centralized exchange or lock up thousands of euros in the proprietary token was unthinkable until recently.
This is where the Ether.fi Credit Card comes in, a non-custodial web3 card that combines everyday spending with DeFi returns.
Main Features
- 3% Flat Cashback paid directly in USDC with the option to receive it in ETFs or BTC (coming soon).
- 100% non-custodial, meaning you maintain control of your funds via smart contracts rather than entrusting them to a CEX.
- Debit or Credit Mode: You can spend crypto directly or use it as collateral to obtain a low-interest line of credit.
- Zero FX commissions and free bank transfers, plus the virtual card is immediately active on Apple Pay and Google Pay.
The Turning Point: DeFi Yield + Credit Mode
- Crypto Income: By depositing USDC, ETH, or BTC in Ether.fi's Liquid Vaults, you can generate income; the APY on USDC is currently around 5%.
- Spend on Credit: For example, you go to the supermarket, pay, and the card opens a line of credit guaranteed by your collateral, currently at a rate of 4% APY.
- Cost Arbitrage: Since the DeFi yield of around 5% on USDC is often higher than the cost of credit (4%), your collateral pays for itself, while you avoid the direct sale of your crypto and potential capital gains taxes.
Plans, Limits, and Cashback
Ether.fi offers four plans based on "Points," which you earn after reaching certain spending thresholds (for example, 3,000 points after spending $1,000), Vault Liquidity (9 points per day for every $1,000 held in Vaults), and Staking.
- Core: The free plan already offers 3% cashback on the first $800 spent monthly (up to $24 earned), and 1% beyond that. Max $24 earned.
- Edge: 25,000 points required, 3% cashback up to $2,000 spent (up to $60), and 1% beyond that.
- Prime: 100,000 points, 3% cashback on the first $5,000 (up to $150), and 1% beyond that.
- Pinnacle: 500,000 points, 3% cashback with no spending limits
Income Plans
In addition to the card, Ether.fi offers automated liquidity management products on the EVM network through the Liquid section. These vaults allow you to deposit assets that can also be used as collateral for the card in credit mode.
The Liquid options offered are USDC (between 4% and 8%), eETH/ETH, EURC (between 4% and 4.5%), BTC, and RWA (Real World Assets).
The Cons
Excellent offers, excellent cashback, and returns. But all that glitters is not gold!
The risks of using Ether.fi are several:
- No bank guarantee: in Europe, funds deposited in traditional banks are protected by the Interbank Deposit Protection Fund up to €100,000.
- Risk of bugs and exploits: Vaults rely on several external DeFi protocols such as Aave, Morpho, EigenLayer, etc. If one of these suffers a cyberattack or a bug in the smart contract, the deposited funds could be compromised or lost.
- Risk of liquidation in credit mode (borrow): By using crypto as collateral for credit expenditure, a sudden market crash would cause the Loan-To-Value (LTV) to rise. If it reaches 93%, the smart contract automatically sells off part of your crypto to repay the debt.
- Customer support is available only via ticket/Discord, typical in the Web3 world.
