Solayer Emerald Card
Solayer · Visa
The Solayer Emerald Card is a self-custody Visa card built by the Solana project Solayer, letting users spend Solana-based USDC at over 150 million merchants. Funds stay in the user's wallet and are pulled on-chain at the point of purchase. It offers 1% cashback plus Emerald Points and partner-token airdrops, with the option of ~4% yield on sUSD balances backed by US Treasury bills. The card costs $75 for the general public (about $11.25 for students, free for community-sale users) with no annual fee; an FX markup of 1.5% applies. It launched as a virtual card only (a physical metal card is announced) across roughly 124 countries, excluding most of the EEA and the UK. ATM withdrawal fees and limits are not publicly documented.
The clause
That 1% on the banner isn't what you pocket.
After FX markup, fees and withdrawals, on an average profile of €1,000/mo (20% abroad).
Data & conditions
§ Amounts in USD/GBP are shown in the service's native currency.
| Network | Visa |
|---|---|
| Fund custody | Self-custody (funds in your control) |
| Issuance fee | €75 |
| Annual fee | Free |
| Free ATM limit | Not documented |
| ATM withdrawal | Free |
| FX markup | 1.5% |
| Cashback | 1% in USDC + Emerald Points / partner tokens · Nessuno |
| Chains | Solana |
| On-chain settlement | Yes |
| Contactless | Yes |
| Virtual card | Yes |
| KYC | Full |
| Privacy | 5/10 |
| Supported countries | US, LATAM, APAC, MENA, AFRICA · 100+ countries |
| Funding / solidity | Solayer (Solayer Labs) e un progetto basato su Solana, originariamente focalizzato sul restaking, con sede negli Stati Uniti. La Emerald Card e la sua carta Visa self-custody, lanciata nel 2025 e disponibile per oltre 40.000 utenti in circa 100 paesi. |
| Estimated net annual cost | €0/year |
| Regulator | Visa network; card issued by an undisclosed licensed third-party financial institution |
| Segment | B2C |
| Funding / solidity | Solayer (Solayer Labs) is a Solana-based project, originally focused on restaking, headquartered in the United States. The Emerald Card is its self-custody Visa card, launched in 2025 and available to more than 40,000 users across roughly 100 countries. |
| MiCA / License status | Card issued by an undisclosed licensed third-party financial institution on the Visa network Visa-network card issued by an undisclosed licensed third-party financial institution; the Solayer project (Solayer Labs) is US-based. Available in roughly 100 countries, excluding most of the EEA and the UK and some US states. |
Strengths
- Self-custody on Solana with on-chain USDC settlement on the global Visa network.
- 1% cashback plus Emerald Points, partner-token airdrops and ~4% yield on sUSD.
- No annual fee.
- Self-custody: funds stay in your wallet — the platform cannot touch them.
Weaknesses
- Issuance fee up to $75 and mandatory full KYC.
- 1.5% FX markup on non-base-currency transactions.
- Not available across most of the EEA and the UK; ATM fees/limits undocumented.
- Full KYC required: verified identity, zero pseudonymity.
- Subject to regulation (Visa-network card issued by an undisclosed licensed third-party financial institution; the Solayer project (Solayer Labs) is US-based. Available in roughly 100 countries, excluding most of the EEA and the UK and some US states.): reporting to authorities and freezes on order.
Verdict
A self-custody Visa card with an undisclosed bank issuer and mandatory full KYC: funds stay in the user's Solana wallet, but formal protection rests on an undisclosed licensed institution and the Solayer project rather than on any known regulatory guarantee.
A self-custody model with on-chain USDC settlement: the user keeps custody of funds until the moment of purchase, a point in favor of sovereignty, but mandatory full KYC and EEA/UK exclusion limit its cypherpunk profile.
Promp's editorial rating based on real fees and net annual cost. Promp reviews third-party products independently.
"Sovereignty" rating: score computed on privacy/anonymity (30%), fund control (20%), censorship resistance (20%), trustless/auditability (20%) and costs (10%). Same data, different weights.
Reputation
What happened to people who used Solayer Emerald Card, and what users say. External signals: they do not feed the promp.it rating.
Incidents & regulatory actions
No known incidentSearch across public sources: no known hack, withdrawal freeze or regulatory action as of the verification date.
verified on
Public reviews
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App Store ↗
5.0/5
2 reviews
sample too small for the average
Exact figure from Apple's primary endpoint (id 6758687992, bundle org.solayerlabs.ios, developer Solayer Labs Inc). Only two ratings: a statistically meaningless sample, reported for completeness and excluded from the weighted average. The app is now called "Solayer Pay", the name the Emerald Card was rebranded to.
FAQ
Is the Solayer Emerald Card custodial or self-custody?
The Solayer Emerald Card uses a self-custody model: funds stay in the user's Solana wallet and are pulled on-chain only at the point of purchase, with no centralized custody.
How much does the Solayer Emerald Card cost and what cashback does it give?
Issuance is $75 for the general public (about $11.25 for students, free for community-sale users) with no annual fee; the FX markup is 1.5%. The card offers 1% cashback plus Emerald Points and partner-token airdrops.
Sources
- coinalertnews.com Payment network · Paesi num · Annual card fee Data verified on Jul 11, 2026
- coinsoncards.com Card issuance fee · Annual card fee · Cashback · Regioni · +8 Data verified on Jul 11, 2026
- blockworks.com Azienda info · Regulatory framework · Paesi num · Supported currencies · +3 Data verified on Jun 23, 2026
- docs.solayer.org Descrizione · Payment network · Blockchain · Custodial Data verified on Jun 22, 2026
Show 1 more source
- todey.xyz Custodial · Kyc · Payment network · Blockchain · +3 Data verified on Jun 22, 2026