As mentioned in an earlier post, I have been searching for a “fun” debit card to replace my existing ones. I recently reviewed the 1% and 3% debit cards from MetaMask, Uphold’s generous 2% and 4%, and relatively unknown 4% debit card from Amp Pay (dead), as well as Ether Fi’s 3% card, which at the time featured a generous 15% cashback promotion. In this post, we will discuss the KAST debit card.
First things first, KAST is a cryptocurrency platform. They recently raised $80 million in Series A funding (read about it in their blog post here). Second, as recently as last month, KAST ran a limited-time promotion offering 5% cashback on a no-annual-fee card and up to 10% cashback on its premium version (see this saved screenshot). But it also had a higher cashback rate on annual fee cards. Obviously, cards could be buffed again, but in its current form, the KAST debit card lineup feels underwhelming and largely uncompetitive, which is what this review will focus on.
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Three Tiers of Cards
KAST offers three tiers of cards: Standard, Premium, and Private. Like most newer crypto debit cards, such as MetaMask, Uphold, and Amp Pay, KAST ties higher cashback rates to an annual fee rather than requiring users to stake crypto. That’s a notable shift from the older model used by cards like Crypto.com (CDC) and CoinZoom, although even CDC now also offers an annual fee option alongside its staking-based structure. That said, KAST pushes this model much further than most. The Premium tier comes in at $1,000 per year, while the Private tier costs a steep $10,000 annually.
Some of the key benefits for each tier are shown in the screenshot below. For convenience, I’ve also summarized them in the table below, along with the associated fees based on information from KAST’s website (see this screenshot). Each tier also comes with a selection of different card designs.
| Standard Card | Premium Card | Private Card | |
| Annual Fee | None | $1,000 | $10,000 |
| Cashback Rate | 1.5% (first $2,000/month qualifies) | 2% (first $10,000/month qualifies) | 3% (first $50,000/month qualifies) |
| Card Type | Card Type | Visa Infinite | Visa Inifinite |
| KAST Points | – | +1% | +2% |
| Virtual Card | 2 free virtual cards | Free | Free |
| Physical Card | $40 | Free | 1 free Gold Plated Card |
| VIP Concierge | – | – | Exclusive access to KAST senior team |
KAST Points, as I understand it, do not have immediate utility right now. They cannot be withdrawn like tokens or converted to cash. Instead, they are intended to convert into future tokens at a 1:1 ratio (read more at their website or this screenshot).
If you assume, which is a big if, that KAST Points are worth 1:1 with cash, then the effective cashback for each tier would be:
- 1. Standard: 1.5%
- 2. Premium: 2%+1% = 3%
- 3. Private Card: 3%+2% = 5%
Of course, once KAST Points eventually convert into a token, that token could be worth more or less than face value. If it ends up appreciating, the rewards could be worth more than 1% of the spend. If it depreciates, that same 1% bonus could effectively be worth 0.5%, or even less. In other words, the real value of the KAST Points bonus remains highly uncertain.
Closing Thoughts
You would be insane to pay $10,000 in annual fees for a 3% cashback card (with an additional 2% awarded as KAST Points) with a monthly cashback cap, especially when the market is saturated with 3% or higher crypto-based cards (such as Ether Fi and Uphold, Coinbase) as well as traditional cards (such as Robinhood, Altitude Reserve). Nevertheless, KAST is worth keeping an eye on just in case they offer a generous promotion again and/or revamp their card offering to be very competitive.
