Why “up to 10%” usually means 1%
Every tiered crypto card advertises its top tier. We took the 17 cards in our comparison that publish a tier table and put the advertised rate next to the rate you actually start on, with the requirement that separates them.
Across 17 tiered cards, the advertised rate averages 4.0 percentage points above the rate a new customer starts on. The widest gap is the Tap Card, which advertises 8% and starts you on 0.5% — 16× lower. 2 of them pay nothing at all on their entry tier.
Four things that sit between the headline and your account
- 01
Tiers, not rates
Almost no card pays one rate. It publishes a ladder, and the number on the marketing page is the top rung. The rate you get on day one is the bottom rung — on most cards that is somewhere between 0% and 2%.
- 02
The top rung costs money you do not spend
Reaching it usually means locking capital in the issuer's own token, paying a subscription, or holding a balance — capital that earns nothing while it sits there, and that falls in value if the token does. That cost never appears in the advertised percentage.
- 03
Caps cut the rate mid-month
Several cards apply the headline rate only to a spend band — the first $1,000 or $10,000 a month — and drop to a floor rate above it. A "5%" card capped at $1,000/month pays 5% on that and 1% on everything after.
- 04
The rate is paid in something
A rate paid in the issuer's own token is not the same as a rate paid in USDC or bitcoin. If the token falls before you sell, the realised rate is lower than the advertised one — and on some cards the reward is locked for a period first.
Advertised rate vs. the rate you start on
Both figures come from each issuer's own published tier table, so they are directly comparable. Sorted by the size of the gap.
Only cards publishing a tier table appear here — a card with a single flat rate has no gap to show. Requirements are quoted from the issuer's terms as we last verified them; token-price requirements move with the token. See the full fee table for what each card charges alongside what it pays, and our methodology for how these figures are checked. Not financial advice.
Common questions
Is "up to 10%" a lie?
No — it is usually achievable, but only at the top tier, and the tier table shows what that costs. The problem is that the condition is never in the headline, so two cards advertising the same rate can be completely different products.
What rate will I actually get?
On a tiered card, assume the entry tier unless you intend to meet the top tier's requirement. Across the tiered cards we track the entry rate is most often around 1%, regardless of what the card advertises.
Does staking to reach a higher tier pay for itself?
Sometimes, but the comparison is not rate-versus-rate. Locking capital in an issuer's token for twelve months carries the token's price risk plus whatever that money would have earned elsewhere. On a small monthly spend, a higher rate rarely covers it.
How do I compare cards fairly then?
Compare entry tiers against entry tiers, and only compare top tiers if you would genuinely meet both requirements. Our fee table lists every charge alongside the rate, which is the other half of the calculation.