Source time Edition date
InstitutionsCoinDesk
Crypto card startups are racking up losses just to buy your loyalty with big rewards
加密卡初创公司不断累积亏损，只为用高额奖励换取你的忠诚
Crypto card startups are betting that trading, lending and staking revenue will offset reward costs, a gamble whose outcome will test whether loyalty bought with big rewards can ever become profitable.
Judgment
Crypto card startup operators must decide how long to keep subsidizing card rewards while waiting for trading, lending and staking revenue to cover those costs; continuing buys loyalty but deepens losses if user conversion stalls.
Basis
CoinDesk reports that crypto card startups are accumulating losses to buy loyalty with big rewards. The providers' stated bet is that revenue from trading, lending and staking can cover rewards and turn card users into profitable customers. The mechanism is cross-sell: rewards pull in card users, and their later trading, lending or staking activity is supposed to generate enough revenue to offset reward costs. The source gives no figures for reward spend, losses, or conversion, so the test is whether that offset actually materializes.
Unclear The source does not quantify reward costs, losses, or the conversion rate from card users to trading, lending and staking customers.
Next Watch for the next company disclosure or CoinDesk report showing whether a crypto card startup's trading, lending and staking revenue covers its reward costs.