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Bybit Card vs Ether.fi Cash in 2026
Bybit advertises "up to 10% cashback" on its crypto card. Ether.fi promises "true self-custody" with DeFi yield. This comparison uses data from our 178-card database to check both claims against the fees and the caps. Read the standalone Bybit Card review or Ether.fi Cash review for full data sheets. See our editorial disclosure.
How a $100 spend flows on each card
The custody difference shows up most clearly in the transaction path. The same $100 purchase runs through two different sequences:
| Step | Bybit Card (custodial) | Ether.fi Cash (self-custody, Borrow Mode) |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Funds before purchase | Held by Bybit on its exchange balance, in your name | Held on-chain in your own ether.fi Vault |
| 2. You tap the card for $100 | Bybit debits your exchange balance | Wallet borrows $100 USDC against your collateral in the card's lending market |
| 3. Crypto disposal | Bybit sells the equivalent crypto, taxable disposal triggered | No sale, collateral stays on-chain, no taxable event |
| 4. Settlement to merchant | Mastercard rail settles $100 USD to the merchant | Visa rail settles $100 USD to the merchant |
| 5. Cashback | 1% base in the EEA ($1 here, no cap); VIP tiers pay 2-10% with monthly caps | Real 3% at Core rates, paid in ETHFI with a 7-day lock (help centre, 12 September 2026) |
| 6. Loan repayment | Not applicable | Pay down the borrow with future income or by selling later |
| 7. Tax timing | Capital gain or loss realised on every spend | Tax deferred until collateral sold or liquidated |
The borrow-to-spend mechanic is the structural advantage Ether.fi has over any custodial card. Spending borrowed funds is not a disposal under most tax regimes, including the IRS treatment in the US (though specific DeFi guidance is still evolving). For a long-term holder who would otherwise have to sell appreciated crypto to fund a card, this can defer years of tax events. The trade-off is liquidation risk: if your collateral falls below the loan-to-value ratio, your collateral gets sold to repay the loan, and that forced sale is a taxable event you did not choose the timing of.
One caveat: the flow above describes Borrow Mode. Ether.fi also runs a Direct Pay Mode, where the purchase amount is deducted straight from the USDC or LiquidUSD balance in your vault, with the help centre naming both assets and no order between them. No loan, no liquidation risk. The tax-deferral argument in step 7 does not apply there, since you are spending stablecoins rather than borrowing against appreciated collateral.
Verdict: Ether.fi Cash wins, but the size of the gap depends on your spend.
Bybit fixed its worst problem for Europeans. The EEA card now pays a 1% base rate on eligible purchases with no monthly cap, and VIP holders earn 2-10% on top, subject to monthly caps. Ether.fi Cash still pays more: 3% cashback on the first $2,000 of Core-tier monthly spend, plus self-custody, Visa Signature benefits, and availability in 91 countries and territories on the issuer's own list, including the US and UK, where Bybit does not operate. Since 12 September 2026 that cashback has been paid in ETHFI: it converts at the token price when the purchase clears, sits in a 7-day lock, and needs $5 accrued before you can claim it. At $2,000/month that is about $60 of ETHFI against Bybit's $20. Push past the Core threshold and the Ether.fi ladder steps down to 1%, then 0.5%, so a $5,000/month spender lands closer to 1.6x. EUR spending runs on a lower ladder and ends up around 1.6x too.
| Metric | Bybit Card | Ether.fi Cash | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sweepbase rating | 3.8/5 | 4.9/5 | Ether.fi |
| Real cashback ($2K/mo, EEA) | $20/mo (1% base, no cap) | $60/mo (3%) | Ether.fi (3x at this spend) |
| Custody | Custodial (CEX) | Self-custody (ether.fi Vault) | Ether.fi |
| Countries | 36 we list plus Asia Pacific (no US, UK, Switzerland) | 91 per the issuer (incl. US, UK) | Ether.fi |
| Card network | Mastercard / Visa | Visa Signature | Ether.fi |
Get Ether.fi CardPartner link.
How I picked which features to compare
This kind of head-to-head can quickly turn into a feature-checklist that nobody reads. I tried to avoid that by ranking the dimensions in the order they change the answer. Cashback math came first, because the headline 3% rate on one card and the 1% base rate on the other only tells you half the story until you read the tier caps and regional carve-outs. Custody model came second, because once you decide between custodial and self-custody, you can stop arguing about the dimensions that do not matter to your model.
After that come ATM availability, fee transparency, the wallet-app experience for someone who is not already a crypto power user, and whether the cashback denomination is liquid enough to be useful. Bybit and Ether.fi sit on opposite sides of every one of these axes. Which card you want depends mostly on how much you care about holding the keys, against how much you would rather ignore the mechanics and spend.
Both cards at a glance
| Feature | Bybit Card | Ether.fi Cash |
|---|---|---|
| Card network | Mastercard in the EEA; Mastercard or Visa elsewhere, by region | Visa Signature |
| Card type | Debit in the EEA; prepaid or credit elsewhere, by region | DeFi card (Direct Pay debit or Borrow Mode credit) |
| Custody model | Custodial (Bybit exchange) | Self-custody (ether.fi Vault smart contract) |
| Advertised cashback | 1% base, no cap; 2-10% for VIPs (capped) | Up to 3% |
| Real cashback ($2K/mo) | $20/mo (1% base, no cap) | $60/mo (3% × $2K, Core) |
| Cashback token | Not specified | ETHFI (7-day lock, $5 claim minimum; since 12 September 2026) |
| Issuance fee | Free (virtual); first physical card free in the EEA, €5 replacement (fee table, 8 October 2026) | Free (virtual), except $10 for Core members in 14 regional-pricing countries; physical $50 on Core |
| Annual fee | $0 | $0 |
| Conversion fee | 0.9% when paid with crypto | None |
| FX fee | 0.5% on foreign-currency spend in the EEA (fee table, 8 October 2026; the landing page still says 1%); 1.5% in Brazil; 2% in Mexico, Peru, Australia, Asia Pacific and Georgia; 7% in Argentina | 0% (USD, EUR) / about 1-1.5% on Core (other) |
| Staking required | No | No |
| Supported crypto | EUR plus up to 3 of 7 tokens in the EEA; local fiat plus 6 tokens elsewhere | 15+ tokens across 6 chains |
| Countries | 36 we list (29 EEA, AU, AR, BR, MX, PE, KZ, GE) plus Asia Pacific | 91 per the issuer (US, UK, EU, APAC, LatAm) |
| US / UK available | No / No | Yes / Yes |
| Mobile pay | Apple, Google and Samsung Pay in the EEA and Australia; Google Pay only in Asia Pacific and Mexico | Apple + Google Pay |
| Daily spend limit | €5,000, €10,000 or €15,000 by tier (EEA) | $5,000 default, adjustable in the app (help centre, 5 August 2026) |
| Physical card | Plastic; first card free in the EEA, €5 replacement | $50 on Core (none included); 1 metal free on Luxe, 2 on Pinnacle |
| Yield on holdings | Variable per-asset APR via Auto-Earn into Flexible Earn | DeFi yield on collateral (variable) |
| Purchase protection | Mastercard standard | $10,000 (Visa Signature) |
| Sweepbase rating | 3.8/5 | 4.9/5 |
Cashback after the caps and ladders
This used to be the section where Bybit fell apart. It is only half true now, because Bybit rebuilt the EEA reward model around a simple base rate:
Bybit: a 1% base rate plus VIP tiers
- The base rate is a flat 1% on eligible purchases, with no monthly cap and no minimum spend. Bybit has not published the excluded-category list, hence "eligible purchases".
- VIP holders earn 2-10% instead, subject to monthly caps. Bybit does not spell out the cap amounts on the live card page, so treat the top rates as a perk for heavy traders.
- The EEA card spends EUR plus up to 3 tokens chosen from 7; the non-EEA programmes spend local fiat plus 6 tokens. The "spend anything" pitch is narrower than it sounds.
Ether.fi: 3% on a ladder that steps down twice
Ether.fi Cash pays its cashback on a monthly spend ladder that steps down twice:
| Tier | 3% up to | 1% band | 0.5% above |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core | $2,000 | $2,001-$3,000 | $3,000 |
| Luxe | $10,000 | $10,001-$20,000 | $20,000 |
| Pinnacle | $50,000 | $50,001-$80,000 | $80,000 |
There are three ways into a tier. With points, Luxe takes 5,000 to activate and 5,000 a month to keep, and Pinnacle 25,000 (help centre, 8 September 2026; its fees article still prints 10,000 and 50,000). With staking, it is 30,000 ETHFI for Luxe and 150,000 for Pinnacle (help centre, 11 September 2026), or $15,000 and $100,000 in Liquid. Or you pay: $199 a year for Luxe, $999 for Pinnacle. VIP sits above that. There is also a Business plan at a flat 1% with 0% FX on EUR. EUR spending has its own ladder: 3% only up to $800 in USD equivalent a month, then 1% up to $1,500, then 0.1% beyond. That is the price of the 0% EUR FX.
Annual cashback by monthly spend (EEA cards, Ether.fi Core)
| Monthly spend | Bybit EU annual CB (1% base) | Ether.fi annual CB (Core) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| $500/mo | $60 (1% × $500 × 12) | $180 (3% × $500 × 12) | Ether.fi +$120/yr (3x) |
| $1,000/mo | $120 | $360 | Ether.fi +$240/yr (3x) |
| $2,000/mo | $240 | $720 | Ether.fi +$480/yr (3x) |
| $5,000/mo | $600 | $960 (3% on $2K + 1% on $1K + 0.5% on $2K); $1,800 on Luxe | Ether.fi +$360/yr (~1.6x on Core) |
On the EEA cards, Ether.fi pays roughly 3x Bybit's cashback up to the Core threshold, and about 1.6x for a $5,000/month spender who stays on Core. The old pattern has flipped: the gap now narrows as spend rises. Above $2,000 Ether.fi Core drops to 1%, matching Bybit's base rate, and past $3,000 it falls to 0.5%, below it. Big spenders can restore the 3x gap by moving up a tier, which takes points, staked ETHFI, or an annual fee. EUR budgets follow the same shape on a lower ladder, so someone spending the equivalent of $2,000 a month in euros also lands near 1.6x. The Ether.fi dollar figures in the table are the value at the moment each purchase clears; the payout itself is ETHFI, so what you hold once the lock ends moves with the token.
Fees per transaction
| Fee type | Bybit Card | Ether.fi Cash |
|---|---|---|
| Card issuance | Free (virtual); in the EEA the first physical card is free and a replacement costs €5 (fee table, 8 October 2026; the landing page still says $5 or 5 USDC) | First virtual free, except $10 for Core members in 14 regional-pricing countries such as Argentina, Mexico and Nigeria (help centre, 24 September 2026); physical $50 on Core, 1 metal included on Luxe, 2 on Pinnacle, extra $100 (help centre, 11 September 2026) |
| Annual fee | $0 | $0 |
| Crypto conversion | 0.9% when the purchase is paid with crypto | None (borrow model) |
| FX fee (EEA) | 0.5% on non-euro spend (fee table, 8 October 2026; the landing page still says 1%) | 0% (USD, EUR) / about 1-1.5% on Core (other) |
| FX fee (US domestic) | N/A (not available) | 0% |
| Total cost per EEA tx | 0% on a euro purchase from the EUR balance; about 0.9% on a crypto-funded euro purchase; about 1.4% (0.9% + 0.5%) on a crypto-funded non-euro one | 0% on EUR purchases (about 1-1.5% on Core in non-USD, non-EUR currencies) |
| Borrow APY | N/A | Variable, no rate published (one help article says Aave v4, another says ether.fi's own market) |
| Free ATM | €100/mo (EEA) | 10 a month free on Core and Luxe, unlimited on Pinnacle and VIP; $5,000 per withdrawal, 5 per rolling 24h (help centre, 4 November 2026) |
| ATM over limit | 2% | Fee not published |
| No-fee funding | Internal Bybit transfer | Solana USDC, Tron USDT (1:1) |
For EEA users, a Bybit purchase paid from the EUR balance carries no conversion fee. Paid with crypto, it costs about 0.9% on a euro purchase and about 1.4% on a non-euro one (0.9% conversion + 0.5% FX), partly offset by the flat 1% cashback. Bybit EU disagrees with itself here: its fee table, updated 8 October 2026, lists 0.5% FX, while its card landing page still says 1%, which would make a crypto-funded non-euro purchase about 1.9%. Ether.fi charges 0% FX on USD and EUR purchases; other currencies pay roughly 1% plus a tier margin of up to 0.5% on Core. The borrow cost is a variable rate with no number published. One help centre article (20 August 2026) says borrowing runs through Aave v4 markets; another (14 August 2026) calls it a lending market managed by ether.fi. It applies only in Borrow Mode, on the outstanding balance; Direct Pay Mode debits your vault stablecoins directly and carries no borrow cost at all. Users who carry large borrowed balances over time will feel that rate, and the 3% cashback and DeFi yield on collateral offset only part of it.
Fees across all cards are covered in our crypto card fees explained guide.
Who holds the money
Custody is the biggest difference between these two cards.
Bybit Card: the exchange holds it
- Your funds sit on the Bybit exchange. You do not hold private keys.
- If Bybit is hacked, goes bankrupt, or freezes withdrawals, your card balance is at risk.
- You trust Bybit's operational security with your assets. That is not hypothetical: on or about 21 February 2025 about $1.5 billion in virtual assets was stolen from Bybit, a theft the FBI attributed to North Korea.
- The programme has already changed under EEA holders once. The old bybit.com euro card for the EEA and Switzerland had to be replaced by 31 December 2025, and every Bybit EU card was on the current 1% base rate by 4 August 2026.
Ether.fi Cash: your own vault holds it
- Your collateral stays in an ether.fi Vault, a smart contract deployed for your account. You hold the keys.
- Ether.fi calls the vault non-custodial: you remain its exclusive owner, and it is governed by the smart contract.
- If Ether.fi shuts down, your collateral remains in a vault you own.
- You maintain full ownership and can interact with DeFi protocols directly.
- Smart contract risk exists; ether.fi publishes the cash contracts as open source on GitHub.
After FTX, Celsius, BlockFi, and other custodial collapses, self-custody is a risk management question. Ether.fi Cash is one of the few cards that lets you spend without giving up custody of your crypto. Our self-custody vs custodial guide covers the trade-off in full.
Where each card is available
| Region | Bybit Card | Ether.fi Cash |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Not available | Available (excl. 20 states; help centre, 24 September 2026) |
| United Kingdom | Not available | Available |
| Europe (EEA) | 29 countries (EU-27 minus Malta, plus IS, LI, NO; France included) | Most of Europe except NL, FI and EE (Hungary and Norway included) |
| Switzerland | Not named on any Bybit page | Available |
| Canada | Not available | Available |
| Australia | Available | Available |
| Latin America | AR, BR, MX, PE | Most countries |
| Asia-Pacific | An Asia Pacific programme with no published country list, plus Kazakhstan (AIFC) and Georgia | HK, SG, KR, TW, and more |
| Middle East | Not available | UAE, Saudi Arabia |
| Total countries | 36 we list, plus Asia Pacific (Bybit publishes no count) | 91 on the issuer's list (24 September 2026) |
Ether.fi Cash lists more than twice as many countries as Bybit (91 against the 36 we list for Bybit, which also runs an Asia Pacific programme without a country list) and covers the two largest crypto card markets (US and UK) where Bybit is absent. Regional guides: USA | UK | Germany
Protection, rebates and other perks
| Perk | Bybit Card | Ether.fi Cash |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription promo | 100% back on subscriptions, up to €50 in the first month (welcome offer); up to 100% on selected subscriptions for eligible VIPs | No |
| Purchase protection | Mastercard standard | $10,000 (Visa Signature) |
| Yield on holdings | Variable per-asset APR via Auto-Earn into Flexible Earn | DeFi yield on collateral (variable, no single rate published) |
| Metal card | No (plastic only) | Yes (1 metal card free on Luxe, 2 on Pinnacle; Core pays $50 for a physical card) |
| Auto-pay with yield | No | Yes (yield pays off borrowed balance) |
| Daily spending limit | €5,000, €10,000 or €15,000 by tier (EEA) | $5,000 default, adjustable in the app (help centre, 5 August 2026) |
Bybit's edge is subscriptions: new EEA cardholders get their eligible subscription spend refunded in month one (100% back, capped at €50). After that, up to 100% back on selected subscriptions is a VIP perk. Ether.fi offers Visa Signature benefits ($10,000 purchase protection, extended warranty), metal cards from Luxe up, and a daily card limit that starts at $5,000 and can be raised in the app (help centre, 5 August 2026).
Spending from DeFi positions
Bybit is a centralised exchange with no DeFi integration at all. Ether.fi Cash is built directly on DeFi infrastructure:
| DeFi feature | Bybit Card | Ether.fi Cash |
|---|---|---|
| Spending model | Sell crypto → spend fiat | Direct Pay debit from vault, or borrow against collateral |
| Collateral yield | Auto-Earn variable APY (CEX product) | DeFi yield (staking, LP, restaking) |
| Yield pays bills | No | Yes (auto-repay borrowed balance) |
| Multi-chain | No (Bybit exchange only) | 6 chains (Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, Scroll, Solana, Tron) |
| Supported assets | 7 in the EEA (pick up to 3); 6 elsewhere | 15+ (incl. weETH, LiquidETH, eBTC) |
| No-fee funding | Internal transfer only | Solana USDC & Tron USDT (1:1, zero fee) |
| Composability | None | Composable through the vault's module system |
The borrow-to-spend option is the main reason to pick Ether.fi. Instead of selling your ETH to load a card (triggering taxes and losing upside), Borrow Mode lets you borrow against it at a variable rate that the help centre does not put a number on, while the collateral keeps earning yield, which can auto-repay your balance. If ETH appreciates 20% in a year, you benefit from the full upside while spending on your card. If you would rather not run a loan, Direct Pay Mode deducts purchases straight from the USDC or LiquidUSD balance in your vault, the two assets ether.fi names without ranking them. Either way the assets stay in a wallet you hold the keys to. With Bybit, the crypto is sold at each purchase.
Tax on spending
| Tax event | Bybit Card | Ether.fi Cash |
|---|---|---|
| Spending crypto | Taxable disposal (capital gains/losses) | Borrowing, generally not a taxable event * |
| Each purchase | Requires cost basis tracking | No disposal = no tracking needed * |
| Cashback received | May be taxable income | ETHFI cashback since 12 September 2026, taxable as income; the token moves in price during its 7-day lock |
| Collateral yield | Interest income (Auto-Earn) | DeFi yield, varies by jurisdiction |
Ether.fi's borrow-to-spend model is a potential tax advantage in jurisdictions where borrowing is not treated as a disposal. You can spend without triggering capital gains events, which matters most to long-term holders sitting on large unrealised gains. The deferral only applies in Borrow Mode; Direct Pay Mode spends stablecoins out of your vault, so there is no loan involved. Bybit Card, like most custodial cards, requires you to sell crypto at each purchase, creating a taxable event every time.
Ether.fi Cash, unless your funds already sit on Bybit
Bybit Card has a real audience now: EEA users who keep funds on Bybit and want a simple 1% base card with no cap to think about, plus VIP upside for heavy traders. For users in the US or UK, and for anyone who values self-custody, higher cashback, or DeFi integration, Ether.fi Cash is the better card.
- 3x more cashback on the first $2,000 of monthly spend (3% vs Bybit's 1% base); about 1.6x at $5,000/month on Core
- Self-custody with keys you control
- 91 countries and territories per the issuer vs the 36 we list for Bybit
- Visa Signature with $10K purchase protection
- Two spending modes: Direct Pay debits your vault, Borrow Mode borrows without selling
- A potential tax advantage, because Borrow Mode avoids disposals
Other cards in the same bracket
Ether.fi Cash CardSelf-custody, 3% cashback paid in ETHFI, Visa Signature. Our #1 pick.Bybit CardBest for Bybit VIP traders in the EEACrypto.com Visa5 tiers, streaming rebates, lounge accessMetaMask CardSelf-custody Mastercard from MetaMask walletTria CardSelf-custody Visa Signature; up to 6% cashback on Max (formerly Premium), paid in USDC or USDT
Frequently asked questions
For most users, Ether.fi Cash is still the better card. Your crypto stays in your own ether.fi Vault, a smart contract deployed for your account, until you spend. It pays 3% cashback on the first $2,000 of Core-tier monthly spend (since 12 September 2026 in ETHFI, with a 7-day lock and a $5 claim minimum), carries Visa Signature benefits including $10,000 purchase protection, and is available in 91 countries and territories on the issuer's own list (help centre, 24 September 2026), including the US (outside 20 states) and the UK. The gap is narrower than it used to be, though. The Bybit EU card now pays a 1% base rate with no monthly cap, and VIP holders earn 2-10% subject to monthly caps, which makes it a reasonable second card for EEA users who already keep funds on Bybit. Ether.fi still comes out ahead.
Only at the top of the VIP ladder. On the current EEA card (crypto services run under Bybit EU's MiCAR licence; the card itself is issued by Harmoniie SAS, a French EMI supervised by the ACPR), everyone earns a 1% base rate with no monthly cap, and VIP holders earn 2-10% subject to monthly caps. A non-VIP spender gets 1%, full stop. Bybit has not published the list of excluded purchase categories, and the VIP cap amounts are not spelled out on the live card page either, so treat "up to 10%" as a perk for heavy traders rather than a rate you will see.
No. Ether.fi Cash does not require staking, token lockup, or any subscription fee. You deposit crypto collateral (ETH, weETH, USDC, USDT, eBTC and other supported assets) into your self-custody ether.fi Vault. From there you can spend two ways: Direct Pay Mode deducts purchases straight from the USDC or LiquidUSD balance in your vault with no loan involved, while Borrow Mode draws a credit line against your collateral at a variable rate with no number published (one help centre article, dated 20 August 2026, describes the market as Aave v4; another, dated 14 August 2026, calls it a lending market managed by ether.fi), so the collateral keeps earning DeFi yield while you spend.
No. Bybit runs no card programme for the United States, United Kingdom or Canada, and Switzerland is not in the bybit.eu country list. The card is available in 29 EEA countries through bybit.eu (the EU-27 minus Malta, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway; France is included). Outside the EEA, bybit.com runs separate programmes for Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Australia, Georgia, Kazakhstan (AIFC) and Asia Pacific. Ether.fi Cash is available in 91 countries and territories on the issuer's own list (24 September 2026), including the US outside 20 states, the UK, and most of Europe except the Netherlands, Finland and Estonia.
In the EEA, the Bybit Card charges a 0.9% crypto conversion fee when a purchase is paid with crypto, and an FX fee on foreign-currency spend: 0.5% in Bybit EU's fee table (updated 8 October 2026), although its card landing page still says 1%. A euro purchase paid from the EUR balance carries neither fee; paid with crypto it costs about 0.9%, and a crypto-funded non-euro purchase about 1.4%. Ether.fi Cash charges 0% FX on USD and EUR transactions; other currencies pay roughly 1% plus a tier margin of up to 0.5% on Core, with no separate conversion fee. Both cards have no annual fee.
Yes. Each Ether.fi Cash account gets its own smart contract, the ether.fi Vault, which ether.fi's technical documentation describes as secure and non-custodial. Your collateral stays in that vault, and you hold the keys. When you make a purchase, the card either debits USDC or LiquidUSD straight from your vault (Direct Pay Mode) or borrows against your collateral at a variable rate that the help centre does not put a number on (Borrow Mode). This is very different from custodial cards (Bybit, Crypto.com, Coinbase) where the company holds your funds and you depend on their solvency.
Ether.fi Cash pays 3% on the first $2,000 of monthly spend on Core tier ($10,000 on Luxe, $50,000 on Pinnacle), then 1% in a middle band ($2,001-$3,000 on Core), then 0.5% above that. On 12 September 2026 the payout switched from USDC to ETHFI: it converts at the token price when the purchase clears, sits in a 7-day lock, and needs $5 accrued before you can claim it. Bybit pays a 1% base rate with no monthly cap; VIP holders earn 2-10% subject to caps. For a $2,000/month spender, Ether.fi Core delivers about $60/month of ETHFI vs Bybit's $20/month, a 3x difference. At $5,000/month the ladder pulls Ether.fi Core down to about $80/month against Bybit's $50, closer to 1.6x.
Bybit Card: Yes, every crypto purchase is a taxable disposal event, triggering potential capital gains or losses. Ether.fi Cash: In Borrow Mode, spending is structured as borrowing against collateral, which in many jurisdictions is not a taxable event (you are not disposing of assets). Direct Pay Mode spends stablecoins from your vault instead, so the borrowing argument does not apply there. Tax treatment varies by country, so consult a tax professional.
Bybit Card funding depends on your programme. The card spends from your Bybit Funding Account. The EEA card (bybit.eu) spends EUR plus up to 3 tokens chosen from 7 (USDC, BTC, ETH, MNT, GRAM, XRP, EURC); the non-EEA programmes spend local fiat plus 6 tokens (USDT, USDC, GRAM, BTC, ETH, XRP). Ether.fi Cash supports 15+ collateral assets including USDC, USDT, EURC, frxUSD, wETH, weETH, eBTC, ETHFI, sETHFI, LiquidETH, LiquidBTC, LiquidUSD, and more, across Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, Scroll, Solana, and Tron networks. Ether.fi also offers no-fee 1:1 funding via Solana USDC and Tron USDT.
Both are available in most EEA countries. Bybit Card charges a 0.9% crypto conversion when you pay with crypto, and 0.5% FX on foreign-currency purchases per its fee table (its landing page still says 1%). A euro purchase paid from Bybit's EUR balance costs nothing; paid with crypto, it costs about 0.9%. Ether.fi Cash charges 0% FX on EUR transactions and no conversion fee. EUR spending on Ether.fi does run on its own cashback ladder, though: 3% only up to $800 in USD equivalent a month, then 1% up to $1,500, then 0.1% above that. Someone spending the equivalent of $2,000 a month in euros earns about $31.50 on Ether.fi, paid in ETHFI at the token price on the day each purchase clears (help centre, 12 September 2026), against $20 on Bybit, roughly 1.6x rather than 3x. Ether.fi still comes out ahead for most European DeFi users once you add the FX savings, but the 3x headline only holds for modest EUR budgets.
Sources & references
This is what we read to write the guide: regulators, issuer fee schedules and archived snapshots. Not every sentence above has its own link here. If a number looks wrong, start with these.
- Bybit Card (EEA), Bybit EULive card page: 1% base cashback with no monthly cap, 2-10% VIP rates subject to caps, $5 or 5 USDC physical card fee, Harmoniie SAS as issuer. Checked July 24, 2026.
- How does cashback work?, Ether.fi Help CenterCashback paid in ETHFI with a 7-day lock (article dated 12 September 2026), the per-tier spend ladders (3% / 1% / 0.5%), and the separate EUR ladder. Re-read 12 September 2026.
- Ether.fi Cash, Ether.fiSelf-custody architecture, tier lineup (Core, Luxe, Pinnacle, VIP, Business), and supported chains.
- ether.fi Cash technical documentation, ether.fiThe ether.fi Vault: a dedicated smart contract deployed for each account, described as secure and non-custodial. Read 25 September 2026.
- North Korea Responsible for $1.5 Billion Bybit Hack, FBI (IC3)Public service announcement on the theft of approximately $1.5 billion from Bybit on or about 21 February 2025.
- Visa Signature Benefits Guide, VisaDefines the $10,000 purchase protection that comes with the Ether.fi Cash card.
- Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), ESMAEU framework that determines which of these cards can operate in EEA states under what licensing.