Ledger
Ethena Pay
Ethena PayEthena Pay
VisaVirtual onlySince 2026Asks for everythingOperational
Not open yet — a waitlist or a limited rollout, so nothing below has been tested by a real cardholder.
A self-custodial neobank from the issuer of the USDe synthetic dollar, built entirely on Avalanche, whose virtual Visa costs nothing to open, nothing to fund and nothing to spend in dollars — and pays 4–5% back in AVAX. Eleven days old, iOS-only, handed out from a waitlist, and issued in 48 countries that include almost none of the rich world.
Total, per $100 spent: $0.00per $100 spent
It takes nothing at all. 174 of the 175 priced cards cost more. Among the 112 that ask for exactly as much identity, the median is $1.25.
Open pay.ethena.fiNot a paid link: we earn nothing either way.
Whether to take Ethena Pay
Worth watching, and worth taking if you live in one of the 48 countries and want a dollar card that genuinely costs nothing to run: the fee schedule is one of the cleanest on this ledger and the no-markup FX policy is stated more plainly than anyone else states it. Not yet worth relying on. It is eleven days old, it is handed out a hundred people a day from a waitlist, it exists only on iOS, its own App Store listing still describes cards as in development, it publishes no spending limit at all, and its issuer is registered with no regulator in any market it serves.
In its favour
- Nothing is charged on the ordinary path: free to fund, free to issue, no monthly fee, no inactivity fee and no fee at all on a purchase in dollars
- Ethena adds no currency markup of its own and says so in the strongest available terms — the card network's conversion fee is passed through at cost, with nothing earned on it
- The fee schedule is a dated document with an effective date rather than marketing copy, and it prices the penalties as well as the charges
- Self-custodial: Ethena states it cannot hold, manage or access your funds, keys or recovery phrases
Against it
- Eleven days old and not open to the public: access is a waitlist drip that the issuer describes as adding about a hundred people a day, and it is iOS-only
- Issued only where Ethena has authorised it — 48 countries across Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, Africa and Oceania. The United States, the EU, the UK, Switzerland and Canada are all listed as "live soon", which means not live
- Ethena publishes where the APP is live, not where the CARD is issued — the terms say card availability is set country by country, and no card-specific list exists
- Licensed by nobody in the markets it serves: an appendix to the terms states, country by country, that Ethena Pay Ltd. is not registered with the local regulator
Also true, in its favour
- A virtual IBAN comes with the account, so fiat and digital dollars sit in one place — though not in eight of the live countries
- Cashback is published as an exact banded table per tier rather than an "up to", with the bands working like tax brackets so spending more never re-prices what you already spent
- The legal entity is named and lookupable — Ethena Pay Ltd., Malta, company number C 114576 — with a published complaints procedure escalating to the Maltese Arbiter for Financial Services
What Ethena Pay costs
| Charge | What it costs |
|---|---|
| To get the card | |
| To issue the card | $0.00 |
| Monthly | $0.00 |
| To put money in | |
| To load | 0% |
| To spend it | |
| To spend | 0% |
| Per payment, fixed | $0.00 |
| At a cash machine | $1.00 plus 0.65% of the amount, and the machine adds its own surcharge — but the same terms list cash advances under services not currently available, so no country is promised ATM access |
| Total, per $100 spent | $0.00 |
Not published by the issuer: to spend outside the dollar.
Read off pay.ethena.fi on September 11, 2026.
The ordinary path is free end to end: funding, issuance, the monthly fee, the inactivity fee and a dollar purchase all cost nothing, and the card carries 0% APR on purchases. Currency conversion is the one real cost and it cannot be stated as a number — Ethena charges no FX fee, no cross-border fee and no markup, and passes through the card network's own conversion fee at cost, which it puts at around 1% for most currencies while stating plainly that the figure is the network's and is neither set nor capped by Ethena. ATM withdrawals are priced at $1.00 plus 0.65% plus the operator's surcharge, but the same documents list cash advances under services not currently available, so no country is promised access. Two penalties are published: up to $40 for a late payment and up to $29 for a returned one. No spending limit of any kind is published. Cashback of 4–5% in AVAX and a savings boost of 5–6% are rewards, not fees, and both are revocable at Ethena's discretion.
KYC: what Ethena Pay asks for
Full verification: a document, a photograph of your face and proof of your address. The same file a bank opens on you, held by a company that is not a bank.
Asks nothing7 cards
An email19 cards
A light check — a name and a phone, unverified9 cards
A document102 cards
Everything — document, face, address113 cards
Limits on spending
Ethena Pay publishes no spending limits at all.
Where it works
WalletsApple Pay only
Accepted whereOnline and in person
Account detailsIts own account details
Coins in2USDe, AVAX
Chains5Avalanche, Ethereum, Polygon, Optimism, Arbitrum
TiersStandard, Pro, VIP
Issued only to residents of 46 countries — the issuer runs an allowlist, so everywhere else is closed.
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Argentina
- Australia
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belize
- Bolivia
- Brazil
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Ghana
- Grenada
- Guatemala
- Guyana
- Honduras
- Hong Kong
- Ivory Coast
- Japan
- Kenya
- Malaysia
- Mexico
- Morocco
- New Zealand
- Pakistan
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Philippines
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Senegal
- Singapore
- South Africa
- Suriname
- Thailand
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Uganda
- United Arab Emirates
- Uruguay
- Zambia
The other flaws
- The card is collateralised, not prepaid, and the collateral can be force-sold — the terms define a liquidation event on an unmet payment obligation
- The currency cost is real but unpublishable: Ethena charges nothing, the network charges around 1% by Ethena's own estimate, and Ethena states it neither sets nor caps that figure
- Penalty fees sit under a page headed with no hidden fees: up to $40 for a late payment and up to $29 for a returned one
- Not one spending limit is published anywhere — no daily, monthly, per-transaction or balance cap
- Every reward is discretionary: the terms let Ethena reduce, suspend or end the cashback and the savings boost at its sole discretion
- Cashback arrives in AVAX days after the purchase, converted at the price on the day it is credited rather than the day you spent
- The headline 5% is the VIP tier's first band only, and the price of the Pro and VIP tiers is not published
- Nothing is insured — the disclaimers rule out the FDIC, the Maltese Depositor Compensation Scheme and any other government scheme
- ATM access is priced but not promised: the same terms list cash advances among services not currently available
- Total liability to you is capped at the lesser of $100 or the fees you have paid
How we checked this
Thirteen fields are tracked for every service. 10 of them carry a figure we read off pay.ethena.fi on September 11, 2026.
- Issuer's page
- Cost per $100September 11, 2026 · Loading chargeSeptember 11, 2026 · Per-payment chargeSeptember 11, 2026 · IssuanceSeptember 11, 2026 · MonthlySeptember 11, 2026 · Cash machine chargeSeptember 11, 2026 · Apple Pay and Google PaySeptember 11, 2026
- Sign-up flow
- Identity levelSeptember 11, 2026
- Live check
- Operating statusSeptember 11, 2026
- Terms
- Countries closedSeptember 11, 2026
- The issuer does not publish
- Currency conversion · Spending limits · Maximum balance
Nothing here came from a press release, an affiliate sheet, or another comparison site.
Open pay.ethena.fiNot a paid link: we earn nothing either way.
Alternatives to Ethena Pay
Costs $1.00 more per $100 — the price of the difference.
Coin98 Fusion CardCoin98 Fusion CardVisaVirtual onlyAsks for everythingOperational1% when you load. 2 fee fields are not published.AG31 Jul$1.00per $100 spent
Coin98 Fusion CardCoin98 Fusion CardVisaVirtual onlyAsks for everythingOperational1% when you load. 2 fee fields are not published.AG31 Jul$1.00per $100 spentCosts $1.00 more per $100 — the price of the difference.
Solid CardSolid CardVisaVirtual onlyAsks for everythingOperationalFree to load. 1% outside the dollar.AG31 Jul$1.00per $100 spent
Solid CardSolid CardVisaVirtual onlyAsks for everythingOperationalFree to load. 1% outside the dollar.AG31 Jul$1.00per $100 spentCosts $1.00 more per $100 — the price of the difference.
Tria CardTria CardVisaVirtual onlyAsks for everythingOperational$1.00 fixed. 1 fee field is not published.AG9 Sept$1.00per $100 spent
Tria CardTria CardVisaVirtual onlyAsks for everythingOperational$1.00 fixed. 1 fee field is not published.AG9 Sept$1.00per $100 spent