Kraken opened its Krak Card to US customers on August 18, 2026, through its Krak app. The debit card is linked not to a single-currency account but to a wallet holding multiple assets, and it runs on the Visa network. Kraken, the US digital asset exchange owned by Payward, launched the card in the UK and the European Union in November 2025.
The merchant gets dollars, not crypto
The card works in three steps. The cardholder first ranks the assets in the wallet in the order they should be spent. At checkout, Krak converts the assets into US dollars in real time to settle the purchase. The merchant is paid in dollars over Visa’s network, never sees which asset funded the payment, and carries none of its price risk.
Cashback is paid at settlement, not monthly
Kraken offers up to 2% cashback, paid when each transaction settles rather than at the end of a monthly cycle. Cardholders choose to receive it in US dollars or bitcoin, and the rate rises in tiers with the value of the assets they hold on the platform. “The Krak Card turns whatever people choose to hold into money they can spend anywhere, and pays the value back as cash, not points,” said Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Payward.
Tying rewards to balances makes the card look more like a bank loyalty program. It also shifts the card’s economics. Interchange and conversion revenue fund the cashback, and the tiered rates are designed to keep assets on the platform, not just to drive spending volume.
Kraken has not disclosed the conversion spread or fees
| Item | Disclosed |
|---|---|
| Acceptance network | Visa, worldwide acceptance |
| Formats | Physical and virtual card |
| Assets that can be spent | More than 600 currencies and digital assets |
| US issuing bank | Lead Bank |
| FX spread on conversion | Not disclosed |
| Limits and ATM withdrawal fees | Not disclosed |
The missing details are the ones that determine what the product really costs. On this type of card, the spread between the market rate and the rate used for conversion is a revenue source comparable to interchange, and it never shows up as a fee on a statement. Every payment also involves selling an asset, and its tax treatment depends on the law of the cardholder’s country of residence.
Every link in the issuing chain can break the program
A card backed by digital assets depends on at least four players: a licensed institution that issues the card, an issuer processing platform that manages programs and authorizations, a processor, and a counterparty that can liquidate the asset. If one link fails, every card in the program stops working. The shutdown of Paris-based card issuing platform Kulipa at the end of July 2026 showed it, knocking out cards for several third-party programs overnight.
The US launch lands as stablecoin rules take shape
The card arrives in the US while the regulatory framework is still being written, under the GENIUS Act and the implementing rules published over the summer of 2026. Cards backed by asset wallets and cards backed by stablecoins work differently: the second category involves a token issuer that must be licensed. Kraken says it plans to bring the card to more markets and add account features.