Our Scoring Methodology
Every card on CryptoCreditCards.io is evaluated using a fixed, transparent rubric. Scores are computed programmatically — no manual overrides, no paid placements.
The 7 Scoring Criteria
Rewards Rate
The percentage of spend returned as crypto rewards. Evaluated across base earn rate, bonus categories, and redemption flexibility.
No Foreign Transaction Fees
Whether the card charges FX fees on international or cross-currency transactions. Full marks for zero FX fees.
Crypto Custody
Control and security of earned crypto. Self-custody or reputable custodian scores higher than exchange-locked rewards.
Global Acceptance
Network coverage (Visa, Mastercard, AMEX) and geographic availability of the card.
Signup Friction
Ease of application and approval. KYC requirements, staking prerequisites, and waitlist length are factored in.
Annual Fee
Total annual cost of card ownership. No-annual-fee cards score full marks. Cards with high fees must deliver commensurate value.
Crypto Cashback Quality
Diversity of supported reward assets, ability to choose reward token, and quality of the underlying cashback mechanism.
Note on weights: Criteria weights are fixed constants in our scoring engine and are not disclosed individually to prevent gaming. The composite score is a weighted average of all 7 criteria on a 0–100 scale.
Grade Thresholds
| Grade | Score Range | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| A | 85 – 100 | Excellent — best-in-class across most criteria. |
| B | 70 – 84 | Good — strong performance with minor tradeoffs. |
| C | 55 – 69 | Average — acceptable, but notable weaknesses. |
| D | 40 – 54 | Below average — significant limitations. |
| F | 0 – 39 | Poor — not recommended for most users. |
Editorial Independence
CryptoCreditCards.io earns revenue through affiliate commissions when users apply for cards via links on this site. This revenue does not influence scores or editorial rankings. Cards are evaluated against the same rubric regardless of affiliate relationship.
All cards must pass an editorial review ( editorialApproved flag) before appearing in any listing or comparison. Cards that have not been fully reviewed are never shown to visitors.
Affiliate links always route through go.cryptocreditcards.io with UTM attribution. Raw affiliate URLs are never embedded directly in pages.
Update Policy
Card data is reviewed on a rolling basis. Each card review page displays a Last Verified date indicating when the data was most recently confirmed accurate.
The scoring rubric (criteria and weights) is a locked constant in our scoring engine. Any change to the rubric requires a versioned code deployment and a re-score of all active cards. Rubric changes are documented in our public GitHub repository.
If you believe a card's data is inaccurate or out of date, please contact us via the link below.