by Daniel | Last Updated April 21st, 2022
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Last week Gemini finally launched its Crypto Rewards Master card after announcing it in April last year, and during this time, more than 500,000 people have joined the waitlist.
The card has to ability to earn up to 3% back on spending and rewards you with your choice of over 60 different cryptocurrencies.
In this article I am going to review the Gemini credit card, and, what I will do is simple, I’ll go over what rewards you can expect to receive by using the card, any fees that are applicable, and then I will give you my opinion on whether I think this card is worth it.
So What Exactly Is This Card & Who Is It Good For?
The Gemini Credit card is a Mastercard that is issued by the company WebBank.
And according to the Gemini Website, it is the only Crypto credit card that deposits your crypto rewards instantly.
Basically, that means that as soon as you make a payment for a qualifying purchase, you will receive a notification that your crypto rewards have been sent directly to your account.
The card is available in 3 different colors, black, silver, or rose gold and all cards are metal.
Also, Gemini said that they have decided not to put a card number on the card as a way to protect people’s accounts.
So basically just your name will be on the back of the card and if you want to access your card number you will be able to do so by using the Gemini mobile app or website
So in terms of who this card is good for, I think it can be good for both people who have already invested in crypto and people who have not yet made the leap into crypto.
The fact that this card makes it so easy to earn Crypto without really having to do anything but spend money makes it a simple and safe way to either add to your existing crypto holdings or start building up your crypto portfolio.
Now it is worth noting that if you apply for this credit card, Gemini will perform a credit check to see if you actually qualify for the card, and according to the Gemini website, this will have no impact on your credit.
Also, just using the card will actually count towards your credit history.
APR
Now let’s take a look at the APR and associated fees that come with the Gemini credit card.
So for Purchases, the APR is between 13.24% and 24.24%.
When getting a Cash Advance the APR will be 26.24% and will incur a fee of either $10 or 3% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater.
If you make a Late Payment for 2 consecutive months or twice within a 6-month period or have a payment returned by your bank you may be put in a Penalty APR of 30.24%.
For each late payment, there is a fee of up to $20, and for each returned payment, the fee can be up to $35.
There are no foreign transaction fees associated with this card.
And finally, Gemini reports that there are no exchange fees involved to acquire your rewards, but they do state that if you sell or convert your crypto rewards you may be subject to a fee.
So the APR and fees that are associated with this card are pretty standard.
Annual Fee
There is no annual fee with this card, and as I mentioned before no foreign transaction fees.
Sign-up Bonus
Also, there is no signup bonus associated with this card which is a bit of a bummer
Earning Rewards
Now when it comes to earning rewards, the Gemini Credit card has 3 options.
When eating out at a restaurant or fast-food chain, or ordering at a bar or nightclub you can expect to earn 3% back, but this is limited to a total spend of $6,000 each year.
So if used in full, it is worth $180 that will be invested in your choice of crypto.
And then all other purchases after the $6,000 spend limit will receive 1% thereafter.
Purchases made on groceries will receive 2% back, but just note that certain wholesale clubs like Costco or Sam’s Club are not included.
Also, candy stores and bakeries are not able to receive the 2% back either.
And then finally, all ofter purchases will receive 1% back.
So all in all, there is a reasonable potential to squeeze some value out of this card.
If you can manage to spend $6,000 on the 3% earnings segment, you will receive the equivalent of $180 each year in crypto.
Then if you spend say $15,000 on groceries each year that would amount to $300 In crypto.
And then assuming you spend $40,000 on other purchases throughout the year at 1%, that would be $400 worth of crypto.
So based on spending a total of $61,000 over the year on the estimate I just mentioned, you would earn about $880 back in the way of cryptocurrency.
So it’s not too bad considering the card has no annual fee.
But one major thing to take into account is that your crypto holding could either go up massively in value or be worth nothing if you happen to choose the wrong crypto.
Benefits and User Perks
Now the Gemini credit card also comes with some pretty decent perks seeing that it is part of the World Mastercard program.
So the first benefit worth noting is a free 3-month DoorDash membership, and this means that you will receive free delivery on orders that are more than $12.
You will also receive $5 off your first order each month until September 30th, 2022.
If you use Lyft 3 times in a given month, you will receive a $5 credit that can be put towards your next ride.
When ordering from HelloFresh meal kit with the Gemini card, you will earn 5% back that can be used for any future purchases, and if you are new to HelloFresh you can receive up to 14 free meals worth a minimum value of $90.
And then finally there is a free ShopRunner membership that provides you with free 2-day shipping and free returns to over 100 stores across the US.
Card Protection
Now from here, you will also have access to Mastercard ID Theft Protection which basically monitors your credit file for any fraudulent activity.
And if there is any suspicious activity you will receive an alert from Mastercard and also get assistance from a resolution specialist.
Next up, there is Mastercard Zero Liability Protection which covers you or any authorized purchases that might be made to your card.
And then finally with Global Emergency Services, you can report a lost or stolen card in literately any language or at any time, and Mastercard will issue an emergency replacement card as soon as possible.
Final Thoughts
So now that I’ve gone over pretty much everything you need to know about the Gemini Credit Card, what do I think of it?
Seeing that there is no annual fee for this card and it is extremely easy to start earning your choice of over 60 different cryptocurrencies, I think that this card is a good choice for anyone interested in building a crypto portfolio, no matter how small that portfolio might be.
A few important things to keep in mind with this card is that you may be charged a small fee if and when you sell or transfer your crypto holdings.
Also, this credit card is a little bit different when it comes to rewards earnings than more traditional credit cards.
When you earn rewards for spending with a traditional credit card, the rewards are classified by the IRS as rebates, which means that more often than not, the rewards that you receive are non-taxable.
But with the Gemini card, if you sell your crypto rewards for a profit, you may well be taxed on those profits.
Now if crypto credit cards aren’t your thing, why not check out my review of The Best No Annual Fee Credit Cards For 2022 here.