MEXC has launched a Visa-linked Global Card that lets eligible users spend USDT anywhere Visa is accepted, with cashback rewards of up to 10 percent paid in USDT — the latest sign that crypto-linked payment cards are quietly becoming one of the fastest-growing corners of the industry.
According to MEXC’s August 31 announcement shared with crypto.news, the Global Card is a virtual Visa product that supports Apple Pay and Google Pay for mobile payments. The launch arrives as monthly crypto card spending hit 759 million USD in July, roughly 2.5 times its level a year earlier, according to an August analysis by a16z crypto based on Paymentscan data.
How the cashback tiers work
The rewards program is tied to a user’s VVIP status and M-Score, which MEXC calculates from activities like trading volume, Earn subscriptions, and platform tasks. The structure is tiered:
- Standard: 4 percent cashback, capped at 100 USDT per month
- Premier: 6 percent cashback, capped at 300 USDT per month
- Elite: 10 percent cashback, capped at 800 USDT per month
The rate is determined by a user’s VVIP level on the final day of each calendar month, with cashback distributed to the spot account on the 15th of the following month. Refunded and reversed purchases can claw back rewards, and some merchant categories are excluded from earning cashback altogether.
The fee structure is aggressive for launch. MEXC is waiving purchase fees through September 30 and charges no issuance, annual, or top-up fees. After the promotion, purchase fees start at 1 percent. Transactions use Visa’s exchange rates, and MEXC says it applies no additional exchange-rate markup — though foreign exchange fees may still apply for certain currencies under Visa’s rules.
Spending limits and eligibility
For high-volume users, the ceilings are generous: the maximum purchase is 80,000 USDT per transaction, and daily spending is capped at 1 million USDT. Those limits are considerably higher than the ones attached to MEXC’s separate APAC card, and the company’s documentation confirms the two products remain distinct with different fee structures.
Applicants must complete MEXC’s advanced identity verification before requesting a card. The application itself takes about one to two minutes, after which approved customers receive a virtual card immediately — no waiting for a physical plastic to arrive in the mail.
One notable exclusion: US residents cannot apply under MEXC’s current regional restrictions, keeping the product out of the most litigious market for crypto card issuers.
A savings hook on top
MEXC has also bundled a separate flexible savings product through MEXC Earn. Cardholders who subscribe eligible USDT can earn up to 7 percent annualized returns, with no lock-up period on redemptions. The 7 percent rate applies to USDT subscribed to the Earn product rather than to balances automatically available for card spending — a distinction worth noting before anyone assumes their card float is yielding interest.
MEXC CEO Vugar Usi framed the card as part of a broader push to cover more of a user’s financial life. “We want users to see digital assets not simply as an investment tool, but as part of a complete financial journey, from saving and yield-generating products to principal-protected solutions and, ultimately, everyday spending,” Usi said.
The bigger picture: cards are having a moment
The MEXC launch is not happening in a vacuum. Crypto payment card volume has climbed steadily through 2026, according to the Paymentscan data cited by a16z. When tracking began in October 2023, monthly volume was under 1 million USD. By July of this year it had reached 759 million USD across nearly 9 million purchases, up from about 5.2 million transactions a year earlier — an average purchase of roughly 86 USD.
Stablecoins dominate the activity. USDC and USDT together represented 84 percent of crypto card spending in the tracked data, a signal that users are reaching for dollar-pegged assets for payments rather than volatile tokens. That is precisely the behavior MEXC’s USDT-only card is built around.
Competitors are converging on the same thesis from different directions. Fold began issuing its Bitcoin Credit Card to waitlist users in May, offering a 1.5 percent base Bitcoin reward plus boosted rates through merchant offers. In August, Western Union launched its Stablecard with infrastructure firm Rain, letting customers hold and spend its USDPT stablecoin through Visa across 37 markets, with more than 60 targeted by the end of 2026. Visa itself has been testing models that connect self-custodied stablecoin balances directly to its merchant network through a pilot with WeFi covering selected markets in Europe, Asia, and Latin America.
What it means
For years, the promise of “spend your crypto” ran into two walls: nobody wanted to part with an appreciating asset, and card economics were thin. Stablecoins dissolved the first problem — a USDT balance is effectively digital cash that happens to live on an exchange. The second problem is being solved with cashback tiers, waived fees, and the kind of aggressive onboarding that MEXC is known for.
The 2.5-times year-over-year growth in card spending suggests the behavior is sticking. As long as rewards stay in USDT and fees stay low, the pipeline from exchange balance to Visa terminal will keep widening — and traditional card issuers will keep watching how much of that 759-million-dollar monthly volume they are not capturing.
80,000 usdt max purchase per the limits section and no fx markup on visa rates is honestly generous. just remember refunded purchases claw back the cashback, that will bite some people
10 percent cashback sounds great until you see its the elite tier capped at 800 usdt a month and needs their whole m-score grind. standard users get 4 percent with a 100 usdt cap lol
Every rewards card works this way though. The number that actually matters is the 1 percent purchase fee that kicks in after September 30, that eats most of the cashback edge.
the 1 percent fee is on top-ups not purchases though. spend the loaded usdt and you keep the full cashback, the fee only stings if you reload small amounts often
759m a month in crypto card spending, up 2.5x in a year, and people still say nobody actually pays with this stuff
10 percent cashback sounds amazing until you see its the Elite tier capped at 800 USDT and tied to your M-Score. standard users get 4 percent, capped at 100. still not bad tbh
average crypto card purchase is like 86 usd per the paymentscan data. people are buying coffee with this, not cars lol
86 dollar average purchase means standard tier users hit the 100 usdt cap after about 29 swipes of the card lol. math on the 4 percent tier is rough
No US residents, purchase fees jump to 1 percent after September 30, and the 7 percent Earn rate only applies if you subscribe USDT separately. Read the fine print on this one.