Visa
Bitwala
3.5/10Overall Score
Card Mode
--
Card Type
Debit
Mobile Payments
Google PaySupportedApple PaySupported
About the Project
Fees & Rules
01Getting Started
- Virtual Card Application
- $1.1
- Physical Card Application
- $11.1
02Spending & Conversion
- Base Transaction Fee
- 0%
- ATM WithdrawalATM WithdrawalEach withdrawal fee is €2 + 1%
- 1%
- Crypto / Fiat Conversion
- 1%
Card Guide
Overview
Bitwala has operated from Berlin since 2014 as one of Germany's earliest crypto banks, rebranded to Nuri in 2021, and relaunched under the original name in November 2023 on infrastructure from Estonian BaaS provider Striga after the parent's 2022 insolvency. It is now a Visa debit card with a self-custody wallet and a euro account: the wallet holds bitcoin, ether, USDC and euros, the card is issued by Wallester, and spending settles from the euro balance. Storage is self-custodial, while the spendable card balance is held by service providers.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Formats: | virtual and physical cards with Google Pay support. |
| Tiers: | one card tier, with a second verification level triggered by cumulative crypto deposits to raise limits. |
| Supported assets: | bitcoin, ether, USDC and euros. |
| Use cases: | European everyday spending and ATM withdrawals, with euro payments free. |
Benefits
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Free euro payments: | no fee on euro spending online or in store. |
| Free rails: | account opening, monthly subscription, crypto deposits and fiat deposits all cost nothing. |
| Self-custody wallet: | MPC shard signing, so the platform never holds a complete private key. |
| Higher limits: | reaching the cumulative crypto deposit threshold triggers a second verification level, lifting the monthly limit from EUR 10,000 to 15,000. |
| Track record and regulation: | operating under German rules with more than EUR 3 billion processed since 2014. |
| Controls: | limits, freeze and unfreeze, and transaction history in the app. |
Fees
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Issuance: | EUR 0.99 for the virtual card and EUR 9.99 for the physical card. |
| Shipping: | EUR 4.99 tracked and EUR 39.99 express. |
| Monthly fee: | none. |
| Euro payments: | free. |
| Crypto payments: | EUR 0.20 + 1% per transaction. |
| Trading: | EUR 1 + 1% per buy or sell. |
| ATM: | EUR 2 + 1% per withdrawal. |
| Fiat withdrawal: | EUR 1.99 each. |
Availability
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Supported (29): | Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. |
| Not supported: | the United States and the United Kingdom; Swiss residents can use the platform but not the card. |
| Suspended markets: | onboarding is paused in Hungary, while Germany reopened in July 2026. |
| Onboarding: | EEA residency with document and selfie checks; non-EEA nationals also need a residence permit and proof of address. |
| Spending limits: | EUR 10,000 a day, and EUR 10,000 a month at level one or 15,000 at level two. |
| Cash limits: | EUR 350 a day and EUR 3,000 a month. |