MetaMask Card Review 2026: Fees, Limits & Who It Suits

MetaMask Card breaks the exchange-card mould: your crypto stays in your own self-custody wallet until the second you spend it — no pre-funding an exchange or a custodial card balance, ever.

Every other crypto card in this comparison asks you to park money with a company first. MetaMask Card, issued by Cross River Bank in the US and operated with Baanx/Monovate on the Mastercard network, instead links to your MetaMask wallet: you approve a spending allowance per network, and when you pay, the exact amount is taken from your wallet at that moment. Assets you never approved cannot be touched, and everything else stays exactly where it was — in your custody.

Spending works across several chains (Linea, Solana, Base and Monad at launch), cashback is 1% in mUSD on the free virtual tier, and there is a paid Metal tier at $199/year with 3% cashback on the first $10,000/year, free cross-border spending and a physical metal card. Two practical warnings: new sign-ups in the US and UK have been temporarily paused since mid-2026 (existing cards keep working), and new Metal orders are paused too — check the app for the current state before planning around it.

MetaMask Card at a glance

Fees in detail

The free tier's costs are conversion-related: spending a token that is not the settlement currency can incur conversion — wETH, for example, carries a 0.875% conversion, while eligible same-currency stablecoin spends avoid extra conversion fees. Cross-border transactions cost 1% on the free tier (0% on Metal), and ATM withdrawals cost 2% (Metal gets $1,200/month free, then 2%). Gas on supported networks is minimal — sub-penny on Linea — but it exists, unlike fully custodial cards.

The Metal tier's $199/year only pencils out if you spend heavily in its 3% cashback window (the first $10,000/year earns an extra 2% over the free tier — worth up to $200) and use the free cross-border allowance. For most users the free virtual card is the product.

• Virtual card: $0, no annual fee on the free tier
• Same-currency stablecoin spends: no conversion fee; wETH conversion 0.875%
• Cross-border fee: 1% free tier, 0% on Metal
• ATM: 2% (Metal: free up to $1,200/month)
• Metal tier: $199/year; limits double to $20K/tx and $30K/day

Features and how it works

The allowance model is the feature: you grant the card permission to spend a set amount of a specific token on a specific network, and you can revoke or adjust it at any time from your wallet. Combined with multi-chain support, it means the ETH on Base, the USDC on Linea and the SOL in your Solana wallet can all back the same card without bridging everything into one custodial pot first.

Rewards go beyond cashback: the Blackbird loyalty program pays 5X $FLY points on the free tier and 7X on Metal, stackable with the mUSD cashback. Apple Pay and Google Pay are supported, and no staking is required at any tier — unusual in a market where rewards usually demand a token lock-up.

• True self-custody: funds stay in your wallet until the moment of purchase
• Per-network spending allowances you control and can revoke
• Multi-chain spending: Linea, Solana, Base, Monad
• 1% mUSD cashback with no staking; $FLY loyalty points on top
• Apple Pay and Google Pay support

How to get the MetaMask Card card

1. Install MetaMask (mobile) and create or import your wallet; fund it on a supported network such as Linea or Base.
2. Apply for MetaMask Card in the app and complete the issuing bank's identity verification.
3. Activate the free virtual card and set a spending allowance for the token/network you want to spend from.
4. Add the card to Apple Pay or Google Pay, or use the number online.
5. Spend — the exact amount leaves your wallet at purchase time; adjust or revoke allowances anytime in MetaMask.

Who should choose MetaMask Card?

MetaMask Card is for DeFi natives who refuse to park funds on exchanges but still want card convenience — and who hold stablecoins on supported chains. If self-custody sounds like homework, a custodial card like KAST gives a simpler life for similar everyday results.

Practical notes

Allowance hygiene is the skill this card demands. Grant allowances per network and token sized to your real spending — a month of expenses, not your whole stack — and revoke allowances for tokens you stop using; the approval is the attack surface, and managing it is the price of self-custody. Keep a small ETH (or native token) buffer on each network you spend from, because transactions still need gas even when it is measured in fractions of a cent on Linea. Cashback in mUSD accrues automatically, and the $FLY loyalty multipliers apply on top without extra steps. Note the operational split behind the card: issued by Cross River Bank in the US and operated by Baanx/Monovate, with MetaMask providing the wallet layer — support questions about a declined transaction may need the in-app card support rather than the wallet's general help. Finally, the paused US/UK sign-ups mean replacement-account creation is impossible there right now; existing users should keep their account in good standing rather than closing and reapplying.

Frequently asked questions

Keep comparing

MetaMask Card headlines best cards for crypto users. For a custodial alternative with 0% stablecoin fees, see KAST.

Sources & methodology