Head to head
ether.fi Cash vs Nexo Card
The two ways to spend against crypto without selling. ether.fi keeps your collateral in your own vault and pays 3% cashback; Nexo is custodial, and its cashback needs NEXO tokens, but it has a longer track record as a lender.
| Feature | ether.fi Cash | Nexo Card |
|---|---|---|
| Our score | 9.1 / 10 | 7.6 / 10 |
| Card type | Credit | Debit + Credit |
| Custody | Self-custody | Custodial |
| Cashback | 3% to tier cap | 0.5–2% in credit mode |
| Paid in | USDC | BTC / NEXO |
| Annual fee | $0 | $0 |
| FX fee | 0% USD/EUR · 1% other | 0% to limits |
| Availability | EU excl. NL, FI, EE, HU · UK · US · UAE | EEA · UK |
| Net value, eurozone* | +€522/yr | €0/yr |
| Net value, Romania* | +€387/yr | €0/yr |
*At €1,500 a month with a typical foreign-currency share for each place (10% in the eurozone, 85% in Romania, where local lei spending counts as foreign currency). Run your own numbers.
Who wins at €500, €1,500 and €3,000 a month
Net value per year from the same calculator that powers the country pages: cashback minus FX, conversion and annual fees, with €1,000 kept on the platform for balance-based cards. Category bonuses and promotions are not counted.
| Scenario | ether.fi Cash | Nexo Card |
|---|---|---|
| Eurozone, 10% foreign · €500/mo | +€174 | €0 |
| Eurozone, 10% foreign · €1,500/mo | +€522 | €0 |
| Eurozone, 10% foreign · €3,000/mo | +€804 | €0 |
| Romania, 85% foreign · €500/mo | +€129 | €0 |
| Romania, 85% foreign · €1,500/mo | +€387 | €0 |
| Romania, 85% foreign · €3,000/mo | +€534 | €0 |
Where the difference comes from
Both let you spend against crypto without selling it, and that is where the similarity ends. ether.fi keeps your ETH collateral in a vault you control and pays 3% cashback in USDC on the first $2,000 a month. Nexo is a custodial lender: its card switches between a debit mode that earns interest on idle balances and a credit mode that borrows against your portfolio, with cashback of 0.5% to 2% paid in BTC or NEXO depending on your loyalty tier, which requires holding NEXO tokens.
The calculator scores Nexo at zero cashback because its rates depend on a token position most users will not hold, which is why every row above favours ether.fi. Nexo’s case is the credit line itself, its longer track record as a lender, and coverage of the EEA and UK where ether.fi is missing four EU countries. Its risk is the counterparty: Nexo has no MiCA licence of its own and operates through partner custodians, whereas ether.fi’s collateral never leaves your wallet.
Choose ether.fi if…
you want self-custody and meaningful cashback.
Choose Nexo if…
you want a pure credit line and are comfortable with a custodial lender.