Solflare Card: Why It's Paused and What to Use Instead

The Solflare Card is a self-custody Mastercard debit card that spends USDC straight from a Solflare wallet, and it has been paused since July 28, 2026. Solflare says its card issuing partner, Kulipa, "struggled to keep its operations going," so virtual and physical cards stopped working that day, per Solflare's announcement. Solflare promised a new card in August. When we checked Solflare's card page on November 1, 2026, it still said cards were paused. This guide covers what the Solflare Card was, what the pause means for your funds, what it cost, and which crypto cards you can use while you wait.

Solflare launched the card with Mastercard on November 19, 2025, and called it "the first true self-custody debit card on Solana," per the launch press release. It launched in the UK and the European Economic Area (EEA), with other regions to follow, per the same release.

The card works differently from most crypto cards:

• No preloading. "You spend from the USDC that is already in your wallet," per Solflare's card guide.
• USDC on Solana only. Solflare says "the Solflare Card works with USDC on Solana," per the same guide.
• Conversion at checkout. The USDC converts to fiat at the point of sale, per the guide.
• Signed by you. The press release says each transaction is approved with biometrics, a PIN and the physical card, per PR Newswire.
• Google Pay at launch, Apple Pay later. The guide says the card could be added to Google Pay and that Apple Pay was "coming soon," per Solflare.
• Identity check required. Applicants complete "a quick KYC verification (as required for Mastercard cards)," per the guide.

That model is what "self-custody card" means: the card program never holds a balance for you. It only gets your approval to spend from your own wallet at the moment you pay.

Kulipa, the company Solflare used to issue the card, could no longer support it. Solflare wrote that Kulipa "struggled to keep its operations going," and that virtual and physical cards "stopped working today, 28 July 2026," per Solflare's announcement.

Solflare was not the only card hit. Ready, another wallet card, stopped issuing cards on July 29, 2026, and told users existing cards would stop working soon, according to a Sweepbase timeline of the Kulipa shutdown. Ready's help centre said its "current card provider can no longer deliver the level of reliability Ready Cards require," per the same Sweepbase page. Sweepbase notes that Ready doesn't name the provider; press reports name Kulipa.

Sweepbase also notes that no regulator action was involved in either closure, per Sweepbase.

Yes, according to Solflare. Because the card is self-custodial, the money stays in your own wallet and is only spent from there when you make a purchase, so no third party held it, per Solflare's announcement. Sweepbase reached the same conclusion: no balance was held with Kulipa, per Sweepbase.

In practice, that means:

1. Your USDC is still in your Solflare wallet. You can send it or hold it as usual.
2. The old card number no longer works, so any subscription billed to it will fail at the next renewal.
3. You have nothing to withdraw from the card itself, because it never held a balance.

Point 2 is the one to deal with now. Update the card on file at every merchant that billed the Solflare Card before the next renewal date.

No relaunch date has been confirmed. Solflare said in July that the new card was "expected in August," per its announcement. Since then:

Solflare has said what the new card should bring:

• A new card, not a restored one. Existing cards won't carry over; you'll need to create a new card and will likely have to complete KYC again, per Solflare.
• Apple Pay and Google Pay, higher limits and cashback, per the same announcement.
• Similar coverage, "including Serbia and Croatia," with full availability to be confirmed at launch, per the same announcement.

Solflare has not named the new issuing partner on these pages. Until the new card is live, treat the features above as plans.

Solflare's guide lists two fees: a "1% Solflare fee" and a "0.40%–0.70% FX fee (UK & EEA)," per Solflare's card guide. The guide does not list card issuance or shipping costs. It also doesn't say whether the new card will keep this fee structure.

Because there was no top-up step, those fees applied at the moment of each purchase. On a purchase worth $200, the published fees come to:

• 1% Solflare fee: $2.00
• 0.40%--0.70% FX fee: $0.80--$1.40
• Total: $2.80--$3.40

If you compare it with another card, compare the total cost of a purchase, not one fee line. Our guide to crypto card foreign transaction fees explains how FX spreads and per-transaction fees add up.

There are two kinds of replacement. One is another self-custody card, which keeps the Solflare model. The other is a prepaid crypto card, where you top up a card balance first. If you're new to the difference, start with what a crypto debit card is.

The MetaMask Card is a self-custody card: you "maintain self-custody of your funds until the second you pay," per MetaMask. For a Solflare user, it has one useful overlap: it supports Solana alongside Linea, Monad and Base, per the same page.

What MetaMask's card page lists:

• Tokens: mUSD, wETH, EURe, GBPe, USDC and USDT, per MetaMask.
• Tiers: a free Virtual card with 1% back in mUSD, or a Metal card at $199 a year with 3% back on the first $10,000 spent, then 1%, per MetaMask.
• Mobile wallets: "Tap to pay" via Apple Pay or Google Pay, per MetaMask.
• Regions: the UK and many EEA countries are on its supported list. MetaMask says US signups for its card are temporarily closed, per MetaMask.

The trade-off is a second wallet. A MetaMask Card spends from a MetaMask wallet, so you would move your USDC there from Solflare. We compare it in detail in SolCard vs MetaMask Card.

SolCard is a prepaid Visa / Mastercard card. You top it up from a crypto wallet with USDT, USDC or SOL on Solana, Ethereum, Base, Polygon and more, and spend the balance anywhere Visa or Mastercard works. It needs no bank account and no credit check.

There are two tiers. Top-up fees and FX spreads are listed on SolCard fees:

On top of these, SolCard charges $0.30 per transaction on both tiers, per the SolCard help-centre fee breakdown. The Virtual card costs $10 to issue. The Virtual tier needs no ID, up to its $10,000 monthly limit.

For a former Solflare user in the UK or EEA, Platinum is the closer match: it has a physical card and Apple Pay and Google Pay, and the 0% top-up keeps the cost close to the purchase price. On the same $200 purchase in a foreign currency, Platinum costs $0--$3.00 in FX spread plus $0.30, so $0.30--$3.30, plus the network fee to send the top-up. On the Virtual tier, the 5% top-up alone adds $10 to a $200 top-up.

SolCard has real limitations next to a self-custody card:

• It is custodial. Once you top up, the balance sits with the card program, not in your wallet. The Kulipa episode shows why some people prefer a self-custody card: when the issuer failed, Solflare users had no card balance to recover.
• Country limits. The United States can get the Virtual card only, and the help centre lists restricted countries, including Nigeria, South Africa, Ukraine and Russia.

You can see the Virtual card on the virtual cards page.

The Solflare pause makes the choice clearer. Each model fails in a different way.

Pick a self-custody card if keeping funds in your wallet until checkout matters most and the card serves your country. Pick a prepaid card if you hold stablecoins on several chains, want to top up from an exchange as well as a wallet, or want a card that isn't tied to one wallet app. Keeping one of each means a single issuer problem doesn't leave you without a card. Our list of the best crypto debit cards covers more options in both groups.

The Solflare Card's self-custody design did its job in July 2026: when the issuer failed, cardholders lost the card but not their money. The card itself has been unavailable for more than three months, and Solflare has not confirmed a relaunch date.

If you liked the Solflare model and want it back now, the MetaMask Card is one self-custody option, and it supports Solana. If you want a card that takes USDT, USDC or SOL from several networks and isn't tied to one wallet, SolCard Platinum offers a 0% top-up outside the US, and the Virtual tier starts at $10 with a 5% top-up. Whichever you pick, move your subscriptions off the old Solflare card number first.

No. Virtual and physical Solflare Cards stopped working on July 28, 2026, per Solflare. When we checked on November 1, 2026, Solflare's card page still said cards were paused.

There was no card balance. The card spent USDC from your own wallet at checkout, so your funds stayed in your Solflare wallet when the card stopped, per Solflare.

No. Solflare says existing cards won't carry over; you'll need to create a new card and will likely have to complete KYC again, per its announcement.

Solflare named Kulipa as its card issuing partner, and the card ran on Mastercard, per Solflare and the launch press release.

It launched in the UK and the EEA, per the launch press release. Solflare says the new card's coverage will stay "broadly the same, including Serbia and Croatia," per its announcement.

Solflare's guide lists a 1% Solflare fee and a 0.40%--0.70% FX fee in the UK and EEA, per Solflare.

Yes. The MetaMask Card lists Solana among its supported networks, per MetaMask. With a prepaid card such as SolCard, you top up with USDC sent from Solana or another supported network.