Coinbase Card vs Uphold Card: which wins?

Cashback, annual fee, FX and ATM charges, custody and country availability — both cards on the same fields, taken from each issuer's published terms; each card page shows when its data was last verified.

DEBITissued by Pathward, N.A.; powered by Marqeta logo
CASHBACK
Variable
ANNUAL FEE
Free
COINBASE CARD
ISSUED BY PATHWARD, N.A.; POWERED BY MARQETA
VISA

Coinbase Card

issued by Pathward, N.A.; powered by Marqeta
  • No fees
  • No staking
  • Apple Pay
  • Google Pay
DEBITUphold logo
CASHBACK
4%
ANNUAL FEE
Free…
UPHOLD CARD
UPHOLD
VISA (US) / MASTERCARD (UK)

Uphold Card

Uphold
  • No staking
  • Apple Pay
  • Google Pay
OUR SCORE

How we rate them

Our own assessment, not a user rating — four criteria at 25% each, scored against each issuer's published terms. See the scoring model.

Editorial scores for the Coinbase Card and the Uphold Card
CriterionCoinbase CardUphold Card
Overall4.0 / 54.0 / 5
Cost 25%4.5No annual or card fee and no Coinbase transaction fee on spending; the cost is the spread Coinbase applies when it converts crypto.4.0Elite removes both the foreign transaction fee and ATM charges for $99.99 a year; on the free Essential card those cost $1.50 per purchase and $2.95 per withdrawal.
Conditions 25%5.0Nothing to stake, hold or subscribe to, and no minimum balance.4.0No stake or balance — the better rate needs only the $99.99 annual membership, which typical spending recovers several times over.
Rewards 25%2.0There is no standing cashback rate — rewards are rotating offers you opt into in the app, so a cardholder cannot count on a particular return.4.54% in XRP on crypto-funded purchases with Elite, capped at $300 a month, worth around 3.4% after the fee. The free tier pays 2%, capped at $120.
Reliability 25%4.5A large, publicly listed issuer with clear terms, issued by Pathward, and our data was re-checked this month.3.5A long-running issuer with published reward terms and caps, but its rewards terms URL has moved and the US and UK cards run on different networks.
QUICK VERDICT

Who wins on what

  • CHEAPER TO HOLD
    Coinbase Card
    no annual fee vs Free (Essential) / $99.99/yr (Elite)

Only stated where the published data supports it. A card with a tiered or conditional fee is not counted as free.

THE SHORT VERSION

How they actually differ

  • Rewards arrive in different assets: Cryptocurrency tokens from the currently available Coinbase reward offers on the Coinbase Card, XRP in the US, GBP in the UK on the Uphold Card.
  • Coinbase Card runs on Visa; Uphold Card runs on Visa (US) / Mastercard (UK).
EVERY FIELD

Coinbase Card vs Uphold Card, side by side

Full field-by-field comparison of the Coinbase Card and the Uphold Card
FieldCoinbase CardUphold Card
Card typeDebitDebit
NetworkVisaVisa (US) / Mastercard (UK)
Max cashbackVariableUp to 4%
Rewards paid inCryptocurrency tokens from the currently available Coinbase reward offersXRP in the US, GBP in the UK
Annual feeFreeFree
(Essential) / $99.99/yr (Elite)
Monthly feeNoneNone
FX feeNo Coinbase transaction fee for card spending; crypto conversion may include Coinbase's spread$1.50 per foreign purchase on Essential; 0% on Elite
ATM feeNo Coinbase fee; ATM operator fees may apply$2.95 on Essential; free on Elite
Crypto conversionNo Coinbase card transaction fee; Coinbase includes a spread when it buys, sells or trades cryptocurrencyConversion spread of roughly 0.5–1.2% depending on the asset
Where it worksUSUnited States (NOT available in: Louisiana, New York), United Kingdom
Self-custodyNoNo
No staking neededYesYes
Apple PayYesYes
Google PayYesYes
Virtual card——

A dash means the issuer has not published that figure — it does not mean zero. See our methodology for how each field is verified. Rewards and availability change often and vary by region. Not financial advice.

GO DEEPER

Read the full review of each

Coinbase Card review →Uphold Card review →Compare three cards instead

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