Crypto Card Security: How to Protect Your Card and Crypto Balance
Crypto cards give attackers access to your crypto. Here are the essential security practices to protect your card and connected crypto wallet.
A compromised crypto card can drain your crypto balance rapidly, and unlike a bank card, there is no fraud department to reverse the charges. Crypto card security requires the same discipline as crypto wallet security — understand the risks and implement protections before they are needed.
Card Security Best Practices
- Enable card lock by default: lock your card in the app between uses — unlock only when needed
- Spending limits: set daily spending and ATM limits in the app — cap maximum damage from compromise
- Virtual card for online: use virtual card numbers for e-commerce, not your physical card number
- Biometric authentication: require Face ID or fingerprint for every card unlock
- Instant push notifications: enable all transaction notifications — spot fraud immediately
Protecting the Connected Crypto Wallet
- Limit card-connected balance: keep only spending money in the card-linked wallet — large holdings elsewhere
- Multi-signature setup: require multiple approvals for large transfers from main wallet to card wallet
- Different device for large holdings: main crypto holdings managed on a separate, offline-capable device
- Phishing prevention: your card PIN and seed phrase should never be entered on a website — ever
- App PIN: additional PIN for the crypto app itself — separate from device PIN for layered security
What to Do If Your Card Is Compromised
Immediate steps: (1) Freeze the card instantly in the Steyble app, (2) Change your app password, (3) Check transaction history for unauthorised charges, (4) Contact Steyble support within 24 hours for chargeback processing on fraudulent transactions, (5) Move remaining crypto from card-linked wallet to separate self-custodial wallet, (6) If seed phrase may be compromised — move all assets to a brand new wallet with a new seed phrase immediately.