If you are looking for a crypto prepaid card in India, the honest answer is short. We could not find a single Indian bank or RBI-licensed prepaid issuer that offers a card linked to crypto. The global cards that dominate other markets mostly leave India off their lists. The few that do accept Indian users operate offshore, outside FIU-IND registration as far as we can tell. That combination makes India one of the hardest markets for this product, so this guide focuses on the rules and the risks rather than on a list of cards.
None of this means crypto is banned. Indians can legally buy, hold and sell crypto through registered exchanges, and the government taxes it heavily. What is missing is the bridge between crypto and everyday card payments. Banks are cautious, the rupee rails mostly stop at exchange deposits, and foreign card programmes have chosen to stay away.
Where crypto cards stand in India
We checked the main exchange and stablecoin cards against their own country rules. The picture is consistent. KAST lists India as restricted, according to comparison sites that reproduce its list. MetaMask does not include India among its card countries. Crypto.com's prepaid Visa, the Binance Card and the Bybit Card show no programme for India that we could confirm. RedotPay is the exception: India does not appear on its unsupported list, last updated in August 2026.
| Card | Status for Indian residents | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| KAST | Restricted | India on restricted list (comparison sites) |
| MetaMask Card | Not available | India missing from MetaMask’s country list |
| RedotPay | Onboarding possible | Not on unsupported list; no FIU-IND registration found |
| Crypto.com, Binance, Bybit | No India programme found | Not confirmed on official pages |
| Any INR / UPI card | None found | No card accepts rupee or UPI top-ups |
| Card | Where | Issuer | KYC | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RedotPay Card | 100+ countries (not US) | Not disclosed | Full ID | Review Official site ↗ |
| KAST Card | 170+ countries (not India) | Licensed partners (not named) | Full ID | Review Official site ↗ |
| MetaMask Card | 40+ countries; US/UK sign-ups paused | Monavate (ex-Baanx) / Cross River Bank (US) | Full ID | Review Official site ↗ |
| Crypto.com Card | EEA, UK, US, Canada, Australia | Foris MT (EEA), ForisGFS UK, Foris GFS Australia, Digital Commerce Bank (CA) | Full ID + address | Review Official site ↗ |
RedotPay deserves a closer look because it is the card Indian users most often find. Its fees are clear: $10 for a virtual card, $100 for a physical one, 1% conversion and 1.2% FX. But it describes itself as "a fintech service provider and not a bank", does not name its card issuer, and is not registered with FIU-IND as far as we know. Using it from India means stacking FEMA questions on top of counterparty risk. Our RedotPay review covers the product itself, and our KAST review explains its country restrictions.
Why do providers stay away? Serving Indian users from abroad now means registering with FIU-IND as a reporting entity under the PMLA, with the reporting duties that come with it, and accepting the risk of website blocking, as the October 2025 action showed. A card programme also has an issuer to think about: the bank or e-money firm behind the card applies its own compliance rules to Indian customers. Most providers have decided the market is not worth that cost for now. That could change if India passes a dedicated crypto law, but no such law exists today.
RBI, FIU-IND and the law
India has no crypto licensing law, and crypto is not legal tender. The rules that shape crypto cards come from three places: the Reserve Bank of India, the anti-money-laundering regime run by FIU-IND, and foreign exchange law. We split them into four layers so it is clear which is law and which is habit.
Official rule. In April 2018 the RBI told banks to stop servicing virtual-currency businesses. The Supreme Court set that circular aside on 4 March 2020 in IAMAI v RBI. On 31 May 2021 the RBI issued circular RBI/2021-22/45. It told banks the 2018 circular "cannot be cited or quoted from". It also said they must still apply KYC, AML and PMLA checks, and follow FEMA for overseas remittances. Since March 2023, VDA service providers have been reporting entities under the PMLA and must register with FIU-IND. That includes offshore platforms serving Indian users.
Regulator position. The RBI remains publicly sceptical of private crypto and favours its own digital rupee. FIU-IND has moved against unregistered platforms. According to MediaNama, citing a government press release, FIU-IND issued PMLA compliance notices in early October 2025 to 25 offshore platforms. The list included CEX.IO, BingX, Phemex, Poloniex, BitMEX and others, and blocking of their websites and apps was sought under the IT Act. Reports in early 2026 put the number of registered providers at about 49, of which four were offshore.
Provider rule. Card companies make their own calls, and most have chosen to exclude India. KAST, MetaMask and CEX.IO all leave India out. That is a business decision based on registration and FEMA risk, not a legal ban on the product.
Market practice. Banks generally block card and UPI payments to crypto platforms, and UPI deposits to exchanges are cut off from time to time. Crypto.com's own help centre adds that, under RBI rules from 16 March 2020, Indian cards are limited to domestic shops and ATMs unless you switch on online and international use. Even then, some Indian banks still decline crypto purchases.
- RBI bars banks from crypto
Banks told to stop servicing virtual-currency businesses.
- Supreme Court sets it aside
IAMAI v RBI ends the banking ban.
- RBI/2021-22/45
Old circular dropped; KYC, PMLA and FEMA duties stay.
- FIU-IND registration
VDA providers become reporting entities under the PMLA.
- Action on 25 offshore platforms
Notices and blocking sought, per news reports.
- Income-tax Act 2025 in force
VDA tax rules move to new section numbers.
FEMA, LRS and offshore crypto cards
The legal question for an Indian resident is not really "is this card allowed?" It is "how did the money get there?" Loading a foreign card or account involves an outward flow of value. Under FEMA, outward remittances by individuals fall under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, capped at US$250,000 per financial year. Funding an offshore crypto card with crypto bought in India, or sending rupees abroad to buy stablecoins for it, raises questions that no regulator has answered publicly for this product.
We have not seen a definitive legal analysis, and we are not lawyers. What we can say is that several things stack up. The card provider is offshore and, as far as we know, unregistered with FIU-IND. The money crosses a border. And the RBI's 2021 circular specifically reminds banks to apply FEMA to overseas remittances. If you plan to put more than pocket money through such a card, speak to a chartered accountant first. Our card safety guide explains what happens to balances when offshore programmes close.
UPI, the rupee and where the rails stop
UPI is how most Indians move money, and it does reach crypto, but only at the exchange door. You can usually fund an account on an Indian exchange by UPI or IMPS, buy crypto, and hold or sell it there. What you cannot do, based on our research, is send rupees by UPI to a crypto card or hold a rupee balance on one. No card we checked accepts INR top-ups.
That leaves offshore card users with an awkward chain. Rupees go to an exchange, become USDT, leave India on-chain and land on a dollar-based card abroad. Each step adds a spread or fee, and two of them carry tax events. Compare that with Brazil, where cards fund instantly by Pix in local currency. Our Brazil guide shows what a local-rail market looks like.
Tax: 30% on gains and 1% TDS
India's tax rules for virtual digital assets (VDAs) are among the strictest anywhere, and they apply to card spending just as they apply to trading. When a card sells your crypto to pay a bill, that is a transfer of a VDA.
The 30% rule. Under section 115BBH of the Income-tax Act 1961, income from transferring a VDA is taxed at a flat 30%, plus surcharge and cess. No deduction is allowed except the cost of acquisition. Losses on VDAs cannot be set off against any other income, or even against other VDA gains, and cannot be carried forward.
The 1% TDS. Section 194S requires 1% TDS on the payment for a VDA transfer. The thresholds are ₹50,000 a year for specified persons and ₹10,000 for others, and the rate rises to 20% without a PAN. TDS may apply where an Indian exchange handles the sale. Whether or not TDS was deducted, the 30% tax on the gain still applies.
New section numbers. The Income-tax Act 2025 replaced the 1961 Act from 1 April 2026. Secondary sources say the VDA tax now sits in section 194 and the TDS in section 393(1), with the substance unchanged. We could not confirm these numbers on the Income Tax Department's own pages, so verify them before you file.
A worked example shows how harsh this is. You buy USDT for ₹1,00,000 and later spend it by card when it is worth ₹1,04,000. Your gain is ₹4,000, and the tax is ₹1,200 plus surcharge and cess. Suppose that in the same year you lost ₹3,000 on another token. That loss does not reduce the bill at all. Gifts of VDAs above ₹50,000 received without payment are taxed as income. Staking rewards and card cashback are commonly treated as income at your slab rate, but we could not confirm that from an official source. For the bigger picture, see our crypto card tax guide.
We do not recommend an offshore crypto card as a daily spending tool for Indian residents. The fees are manageable. The problem is that every swipe is a taxable VDA transfer with no loss set-off, on a platform that, as far as we know, is not registered with FIU-IND, funded through a FEMA grey zone. If you hold crypto, keep it on a registered exchange. Spend rupees from a normal bank card, and treat crypto as an investment you report carefully.
Exchange availability for Indian residents
What Indian residents can do instead
If you want exposure to crypto, the cleanest setup is a FIU-IND-registered exchange, funded in rupees, with every sale recorded for tax. That gives you no card, but it keeps you inside the system the regulator recognises. If you move abroad, your options change completely. A UAE resident, for example, can choose from several stablecoin cards; see our UAE guide. Whatever card you use, low-verification products are not a workaround. Read our no-KYC cards page before trusting one.
Travelling abroad? An Indian bank card has to be switched on for international and online use before it works outside India, a requirement Crypto.com's help centre traces to RBI rules from March 2020. Do that in your banking app before you leave, rather than trying to route travel spending through crypto. A crypto card would add a conversion fee, an FX fee and a taxable VDA transfer to every purchase. Our travel card guide explains the fee layers if you do end up using one abroad.
- Check whether the provider is registered with FIU-IND
- Ask a chartered accountant about FEMA and LRS for how you fund it
- Keep a record of the purchase cost of every coin the card sells
- Expect 30% tax on each gain, with no set-off for losses
- Hold only a small balance, since offshore programmes can close
- Confirm the card names its issuer and publishes its fees
For a broader view of fees and limits on the cards discussed here, see our fees guide and the countries hub.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a crypto card in India?
Is using a foreign crypto card legal for Indian residents?
How is crypto card spending taxed in India?
Can I top up a crypto card with UPI?
Sources and official pages
- RBI — circular RBI/2021-22/45 on virtual currency due diligence
- Financial Intelligence Unit – India
- Income Tax Department — e-filing portal
- RedotPay Help — unsupported countries and regions
- CEX.IO Support — countries not supported
- MediaNama — FIU-IND notices to 25 offshore platforms (news)
Load your card with crypto you own
Buy Bitcoin, Ether or stablecoins with a bank card, Apple Pay or bank transfer, then move them to the card or wallet you choose.
Open accountCheck availability in your country before signing up.The exchange linked here lists India as an unsupported country. Indian residents should use a platform registered with FIU-IND.
