Crypto Cards in Japan: Debit vs Credit Cards That Earn Bitcoin

Earn cards and spend cards: the short answer

Most "best crypto card" lists mix two products that work in opposite directions. It helps to separate them before looking at any brand.

Earn crypto (Japanese)

An ordinary credit card. You pay in yen, and instead of points you receive bitcoin or another coin in your exchange account.

Issued by Japanese card companies (Aplus, Life Card, EPOS) and tied to an exchange registered with the Financial Services Agency.

Spend crypto (offshore)

A debit or prepaid card that sells your crypto or stablecoins at the moment you pay, so the merchant gets ordinary currency.

Mostly run by overseas companies that are not registered in Japan. Whether Japan residents can sign up is often unclear.

For anyone living in Japan, the earn cards are the practical choice. 2026 was a busy year: Binance Japan, bitbank (with EPOS) and SBI all launched cards, joining the long-running bitFlyer card. For visitors, the picture flips. A spend card you already hold from home can be handy on a trip, as long as you understand the fees. We cover both below, plus the tax catch that applies every time a Japan resident spends crypto.

One thing you can't do in Japan is buy crypto on a domestic exchange with a credit card; registered exchanges generally don't accept card purchases. Our guide to ways to pay for crypto lists what they do accept, from bank transfers to konbini and PayPay.

Japanese credit cards that pay rewards in crypto

These four cards are issued by Japanese card companies and pay rewards into an account at a registered exchange. You need a verified account at that exchange before you can apply.

Crypto-reward credit cards in Japan, from issuer announcements (*bitFlyer rates and fees from a 2026 comparison article)
Card	Issuer / network	Reward	Annual fee	Must have
bitFlyer Credit Card	Aplus / Mastercard	BTC: 0.5% standard, 1.0% Platinum*	Standard free; Platinum paid*	bitFlyer account
Binance Japan Card	Life Card / JCB	1.6% in BNB	Free year 1, then ¥1,650 (waived above ¥100,000 a year)	Japan resident 18+, Binance Japan KYC
EPOS CRYPTO Card for bitbank	EPOS / Visa	0.5% in BTC, ETH or ASTR	Free for life	bitbank account; monthly bill payable in BTC
SBI VISA Crypto Card / Gold	Aplus / Visa	0.5% / 1.0% in BTC, ETH or XRP	Free year 1, then ¥1,650 / ¥6,600	SBI VC Trade account; coin chosen at application

To put the rates in yen: spending ¥100,000 a month (¥1.2 million a year) earns roughly ¥6,000 of crypto at 0.5%, ¥12,000 at 1.0% and ¥19,200 at 1.6%, before any price movement. Because rewards arrive as crypto, their yen value can rise or fall after you receive them. So compare which coin you earn and which exchange it lands in, not only the percentage.

About the bitFlyer figures

bitFlyer's site was not reachable from our research setup, so its reward rates (0.5% standard, 1.0% Platinum) and the Platinum fee (¥22,000, waived above ¥3 million of annual spending) come from a 2026 comparison article. bitFlyer announced revised Platinum terms from the March 2026 statement; we could not confirm the details. Check the official page before applying.

Card by card: who each one suits

bitFlyer Credit Card

An Aplus-issued Mastercard that drops bitcoin into your bitFlyer account. It's the oldest of the four and added contactless (touch) payments on 14 October 2025. Rewards are bitcoin only, which keeps things simple if BTC is all you want. Our bitFlyer review covers the exchange side.

Binance Japan Card

A JCB card issued by Life Card, open for applications since 13 January 2026. It pays the highest rate here, 1.6%, credited automatically in BNB to your Binance Japan account. That's the catch: you earn BNB, not bitcoin, and BNB's fortunes are closely linked to the Binance group. Applicants must be Japan residents aged 18 or over who have passed Binance Japan's identity check. Note that this is Binance's Japanese entity; Binance's global card is not offered in Japan. See the Binance Japan review, and buying crypto with PayPay if you use PayPay day to day.

EPOS CRYPTO Card for bitbank

A Visa card from EPOS, the Marui group's card company, launched on 27 April 2026. There's no annual fee, ever, and you choose to earn 0.5% in BTC, ETH or Astar (ASTR), a token with Japanese roots. Its unusual feature: you can pay the monthly card bill with bitcoin held at bitbank, which is about as close as a regulated Japanese product gets to "spending" crypto. bitbank became a wholly owned SBI subsidiary on 1 October 2026; our bitbank review has the details.

SBI VISA Crypto Card

Issued by Aplus with SBI VC Trade and launched on 1 May 2026. The standard card pays 0.5% and the Gold card 1.0%, in BTC, ETH or XRP, chosen when you apply. XRP is unusually popular in Japan: it was the third most traded coin on domestic exchanges in August 2026. Fees are free in the first year, then ¥1,650 (standard) or ¥6,600 (Gold). SBI VC Trade itself charges nothing for yen withdrawals or crypto transfers; see the SBI VC Trade review.

Can foreigners and expats get one?

These are cards for residents of Japan. The gatekeeper is usually the exchange account rather than the card itself: to open an account at bitFlyer, bitbank, Binance Japan or SBI VC Trade you need a Japanese address and an ID such as a residence card (zairyu card) or My Number card, and you'll be asked to complete KYC online. Since January 2026, new account holders also file a self-certification of tax residence under the OECD's crypto reporting framework, which may ask for a foreign tax ID if you're tax resident elsewhere.

On top of that, every card company runs its own credit check (審査, shinsa). Newcomers with little Japanese credit history may find it harder to be approved, so if one application is declined, don't fire off several more in quick succession. Our crypto for foreigners guide explains which visa types and documents the exchanges accept.

Already holding a crypto card issued in your home country? Read its terms. Many issuers tie the card to residence in the region where it was issued, and moving to Japan may put you outside those terms. If the card is linked to an exchange that doesn't serve Japan residents, the safer path is to stop using it once you're resident and move funds through a self-custody wallet or a registered Japanese exchange.

Offshore crypto debit cards: what's actually verified

Search "crypto debit card Japan" and you'll find long lists. DeFiLlama counts 14 cards for Japan; another tracker claims 40. They include RedotPay, Tria, KAST, ether.fi Cash and the Bitget Wallet card. What we could not find is an official statement from any of these issuers confirming that residents of Japan can apply, and none of them is registered with the FSA.

A few names can be ruled in or out with more confidence:

Bybit Card: gone for Japan. Bybit stopped new Japanese sign-ups in October 2025 and announced on 22 December 2025 that it would end services for Japan residents.
Bitget: stopped new Japan-resident registrations on 3 August 2026; accounts go close-only from 1 November 2026. Don't build plans on any Bitget-linked card.
Binance: the global Binance card is not available here. The Binance Japan Card above is the local alternative.
Nexo Card: listed as not open to applications from Japan by a card comparison site (third-party, unconfirmed).
Crypto.com Visa: not FSA-registered, and Japan isn't on its licences page. Details in our Crypto.com card in Japan explainer.

Why the caution? The FSA has repeatedly warned overseas platforms that serve Japan residents without registration, including Bybit, MEXC, KuCoin and Bitget, and stiffer penalties for unregistered business took effect on 12 August 2026. Spend cards are often bundled with exactly those platforms. If one exits Japan, your card can stop working with little notice. Our tracker of offshore exchanges and Japan lists who has left and when.

Our view for residents

If you live in Japan, start with a domestic earn card. An offshore spend card brings three burdens: an issuer outside Japanese regulation, residence terms you may not meet, and a tax calculation every time you tap. We never suggest VPNs or using a foreign address to get around an issuer's eligibility rules.

Bringing a crypto card to Japan as a visitor

If you're a tourist with a Visa or Mastercard crypto card issued at home, it should work in Japan wherever that network is accepted, subject to your issuer's rules. Cards are widely taken in larger shops and chains, but some small restaurants still take cash only. Look at three things before you fly: the foreign-exchange fee your issuer adds to yen purchases, whether ATM withdrawals are allowed and what they cost, and any monthly free-withdrawal allowance.

For cash, Seven Bank ATMs (found in 7-Eleven stores) accept overseas-issued Visa, Mastercard, JCB, UnionPay and other cards, though not every card works. If you hold crypto in a wallet and want yen notes, the handful of crypto ATMs in Tokyo and Osaka let visitors sell BTC or ETH with an IC-chip passport, at a 10% fee. And to pay with crypto directly, see where to spend crypto in Japan.

Tax: every swipe of a spend card is a sale

Japan's National Tax Agency says that paying for goods with crypto is a taxable event. The income is the value of what you bought minus the cost basis of the crypto you used. Buy ¥10,000 of bitcoin, wait until it's worth ¥20,000, then spend it on dinner, and you have ¥10,000 of income. For tax residents, that's normally miscellaneous income, added to salary and taxed at 5–45% national plus 10% resident tax. With a spend card, every tap can create one of these calculations.

Earn cards avoid this at the till because you pay in yen. Tax comes in later, when you sell, swap or spend the reward coins. Paying your EPOS card bill with bitcoin also means disposing of BTC, so expect to calculate a gain or loss on it. How rewards should be treated at the moment you receive them is not something we could confirm, so record the date and yen value of each credit and ask a tax accountant if the amounts matter.

A 20% separate tax rate for crypto is now law, but it applies only to qualifying trades through registered Japanese firms and starts in 2028 at the earliest. Spending through an offshore card may well stay under the current progressive regime. Read the Japan crypto tax guide and our explainer on the 20% tax reform. If you've just arrived or are about to leave, moving to or leaving Japan with crypto covers residency questions.

How to choose

Pick the card that matches the exchange you already use, so rewards land where your records are.
Decide which coin you actually want to accumulate: BTC, BNB, ETH, XRP or ASTR.
Check the annual-fee waiver: ¥100,000 a year for the Binance Japan Card; the EPOS card is free for life.
Keep a spreadsheet of reward credits and any crypto bill payments for tax time.
If you're a visitor, check your home card's FX and ATM fees instead of applying for anything here.

What works

Issued by Japanese card companies; rewards land at an FSA-registered exchange
You pay in yen, so ordinary purchases don't trigger a crypto sale
Binance Japan Card pays 1.6% in BNB
EPOS CRYPTO Card has no annual fee and lets you pay the bill in BTC

Watch out for

Requires a verified account at the partner exchange and a Japanese address
Credit check applies; newcomers may be declined
Rewards are crypto, so their yen value can fall after you receive them
Selling or spending reward coins is taxable

Crypto cards in Japan: FAQ

Is there a crypto debit card I can get as a resident of Japan?

We could not find a crypto debit card issued by an FSA-registered Japanese firm. Offshore cards such as RedotPay or Tria are listed by aggregator sites as usable in Japan, but their issuers are not registered with the FSA and none officially confirms eligibility for Japan residents. Residents usually go for domestic credit cards that pay rewards in crypto instead.

Which Japanese credit card pays rewards in bitcoin?

The bitFlyer Credit Card pays rewards in BTC, as do the EPOS CRYPTO Card for bitbank and the SBI VISA Crypto Card if you choose BTC. The Binance Japan Card pays 1.6% in BNB rather than bitcoin.

Can foreigners living in Japan apply for these cards?

They are aimed at residents of Japan, and you need a verified account at the partner exchange, which in practice means a residence card and a Japanese address. The Binance Japan Card is open to Japan residents aged 18 or over. Each issuer also runs its own credit check.

Can I use my crypto card from home while visiting Japan?

Usually yes, wherever the card network (Visa or Mastercard) is accepted, subject to your issuer's terms. Expect currency conversion fees set by your issuer, and check whether cash withdrawals at Japanese ATMs are allowed and what they cost.

Is spending crypto with a card taxable in Japan?

For tax residents of Japan, yes. The National Tax Agency treats paying for goods with crypto as a disposal: the difference between the value of what you bought and your cost basis is income, normally miscellaneous income.

Sources

Crypto.com card in Japan

Can you get it, can you use it, and the alternatives

Card payment terminal with a card inserted

Ways to pay for crypto

Bank transfer, instant deposit, konbini, PayPay and points

Tokyo shopping street at night lined with neon signs

Crypto for foreigners in Japan

Visas, residence cards, US persons and tourists

Where to spend crypto in Japan

Real merchants, online options and the tax catch

Japan crypto tax guide

How miscellaneous income tax works, with yen examples

Binance Japan review

The largest coin list in Japan, plus PayPay Money

CryptoJapan editorial team
Written and checked by our editors against the FSA register, official exchange fee pages and National Tax Agency guidance. Nothing here is investment advice. How we review