Frequently Asked Questions

What is Ethena Pay?

Ethena Pay Ltd. is a private limited company incorporated in Malta (company number C 114576) that provides software and technology services. Through the Ethena Pay App and Platform you can access third-party financial services and digital asset functionality, including a self-custodial wallet, payments and transfers, and the Ethena Pay Spend Card. Ethena Pay itself is not a bank, broker-dealer, investment adviser, or money services business.

Where is Ethena Pay available?

The Services are available only in jurisdictions where we have expressly authorized them. They are not available in any Restricted Jurisdiction listed in Section 4.8 of the Terms of Use, and certain features have additional eligibility rules. You must be at least 18 years old to register.

In which countries is Ethena Pay live?

Ethena Pay is live in 47 countries across Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia & the Middle East, Africa, and Oceania, with more going live soon. The supported countries page has the full list and a map, and is the up-to-date source as availability expands. Eligibility still depends on the rules above — availability where authorized, and the Restricted Jurisdictions in Section 4.8 of the Terms of Use.

Does Ethena Pay hold my crypto?

No. Ethena Pay does not hold, manage, custody, or have access to your funds, digital assets, or wallet credentials. Your private keys, seed phrases, and wallet recovery phrases live on your device, and we cannot recover them if they are lost. See Section 4.4 and Section 4.5 of the Terms of Use for the full description.

How does cashback work?

You may earn 4% of the U.S. dollar value of each Qualifying Card Transaction, or up to 5% depending on the user tier you are enrolled in, credited in AVAX (the native digital asset of the Avalanche network). Your rate steps down as your spend rises through the month, and each band applies only to the portion of your spend that falls inside it — crossing a band changes the rate on further spend, never on spend you have already made, so you are never worse off for spending more. Spend is counted per calendar month and resets at the start of each month.

Excluded transactions include cash advances, ATM withdrawals, purchases of crypto / stablecoins / NFTs / securities, gambling, gift cards, peer-to-peer transfers, account funding, and fees or taxes. Transactions under $1.00 do not earn cashback. See Section 6.4 of the Terms of Use for the full conditions, and the Pricing page for the full schedule.

When does cashback arrive?

Not instantly. A card transaction is authorized when you pay and settles a little later, usually one to three business days; only a settled transaction earns cashback. Settled cashback is then calculated and paid out once a day, so in the ordinary course you should expect it within a few days of the purchase rather than at the moment of payment.

One thing can extend that. A very small amount is carried forward rather than paid out on its own, and rolls into the following day until it reaches the minimum we can transfer. Cashback carried forward this way is not lost — it is paid in full once it reaches that minimum. Cashback is reversed if the underlying transaction is later refunded, charged back, or found to be ineligible.

If I hit a spend band, do I lose my headline cashback rate?

No. The bands work like tax brackets: each rate applies only to the portion of your monthly spend that falls inside its band. Crossing into a lower band changes the rate on further spend only — it never re-prices spend you have already made, and it never reduces cashback you have already earned. You are never worse off for spending more.

A worked example, using the Pro tier. Spending $9,000 in a month earns 4.5% on the first $8,000 and 2% on the remaining $1,000 — a total of $380. It is not the lower rate applied to the whole $9,000.

Why did I earn less cashback than my tier’s headline rate?

The headline rate is the rate for the first band, which is what you earn before you have spent anything that month. Once your monthly spend passes that band’s ceiling, further spend earns the next rate down, so your blended rate across a whole month is lower than the headline the more you spend. The table above shows exactly where each step falls.

Two other things reduce the total: transactions under $1.00 earn nothing, and excluded categories (crypto purchases, gambling, gift cards, peer-to-peer transfers, account funding, fees and taxes, among others) do not earn at all. Spend resets at the start of each calendar month, and your rate resets with it.

What happens to my cashback if I return a purchase?

The cashback earned on that purchase is reversed. Importantly, the refund also releases the amount from your monthly spend total — so a purchase you returned does not keep you in a lower band for the rest of the month. Your rate on subsequent spend is restored as though the returned purchase had not counted.

The same applies to chargebacks and to transactions later found to be ineligible or fraudulent. See Section 6.4(e) of the Terms of Use.

My cashback is paid in AVAX — what does that mean for its value?

Cashback is calculated as a percentage of the U.S. dollar value of your purchase, then converted to AVAX at the AVAX-USD rate at the time it is credited. Once credited, it is AVAX: its value in dollars moves with the market, and can fall as well as rise. We do not guarantee the dollar value of cashback after it reaches your account.

Because the conversion happens at the time of credit rather than at the time of purchase, the AVAX amount you receive depends on the rate at credit, not the rate when you paid.

What is the Daily Boost, and what do I actually earn?

Your balance earns the prevailing USDe base rate, which we do not set and which moves with market conditions. The Daily Boost is the amount we add on top to bring you up to your tier’s total rate — so the headline figure of up to 6% per annum is the total, base included, and not a further 6% added to the base rate.

The Boost applies only to the portion of your balance up to your tier’s Boost Cap. Balance above the cap still earns the USDe base rate in full; it just does not earn the Boost.

Because the Boost is the difference between the two rates, it narrows if the USDe base rate rises and widens if it falls — the total stays at your tier’s rate either way. If the base rate ever exceeds your tier’s total rate, the Boost is zero and you earn the base rate.

The Boost accrues daily on the time-weighted average daily value of your Eligible Balances and is paid daily in USDe, ordinarily within 24 hours of the close of the accrual day. It requires at least one Qualifying Card Transaction per calendar month. The Daily Boost is a discretionary promotional incentive: it is not interest, not yield, not a deposit, and is not insured by any government deposit-insurance scheme. Further caps and jurisdictional restrictions apply — see Section 6.6 of the Terms of Use.

What are Earn+ and USD Earn+?#

Earn+ is an optional feature in the Ethena Pay App that lets you move money out of your USD Account and into an external service that pays rewards at a different rate than standard rewards. USD Earn+ is the version that is denominated in USD.

Earn+ is a third-party product. It is not operated, held, or guaranteed by Ethena Pay. The questions below explain how it works, who runs it, and what can go wrong.

How does Earn+ work?#

You choose how much to move from your USD Account into Earn+, and review it before you confirm. The first time you visit the Earn+ page you are required to review and accept the Earn+ specific terms and risk disclosures prior to participating in Earn+. Once you opt in and transfer funds, rewards are automatically added to your Earn+ balance once a day.

The reward rate shown in the app is not guaranteed and can change over time, including going down. There is no lock-up: you can withdraw whenever you like (see below), and Ethena Pay charges no fee to add money or to withdraw it. Money in Earn+ does not earn the Daily Boost. The Daily Boost applies to your main balance, as described in the Terms of Use and on the Pricing Page.

Is there a limit on how much I can put in Earn+?#

Yes. Your Earn+ limit depends on your account tier: $20,000 for Standard, $50,000 for Pro, and $200,000 for VIP. The vault also has an overall limit across all users, currently $4,500,000. Adding money that would take you over a limit is declined, and the money stays in your USD Account. Money already in Earn+ is not affected, and you can still withdraw.

Who runs Earn+? Is it an Ethena Pay product?#

No. When you use Earn+, you are moving your money to an external vault service run by Upshift and Steakhouse.

Ethena Pay provides the interface only. We do not custody, manage, or guarantee the assets in Earn+, and we accept no liability for the vault’s performance or for any losses. Participating subjects you to Upshift’s and Steakhouse’s terms, which you acknowledge when you accept the Earn+ specific terms described above. You can read Upshift’s terms and Steakhouse’s terms on their sites. Those terms are theirs, so they can change without us. Read them before you participate.

What are the risks of Earn+?#

You could lose some or all of the money you move into Earn+. The technology upon which Earn+ relies is operated by third parties outside of Ethena Pay’s control; if that technology fails or one or more such third parties experience a loss, your losses are not covered by Ethena Pay. Ethena Pay does not guarantee results associated with Earn+, including safety of principal. The below risks are illustrative and not intended to be comprehensive; additional risks may apply to participation in Earn+.

• Technology risk. The service runs on blockchain smart contracts and third-party infrastructure. Bugs, exploits, outages, or a failure in any part of that chain could reduce or lock up the money in it.
• Third-party risk. The operators, and the protocol the vault is built on, are separate companies and systems that Ethena Pay does not control and cannot vouch for.
• Rewards are not guaranteed. The rate can fall at any time and rewards are not a promise of any return.
• Withdrawals can be delayed. Withdrawals are processed, not instant, and can take longer than usual.

Only move money you are comfortable placing at risk. Nothing here is investment, financial, legal, or tax advice.

Is money in Earn+ insured or guaranteed?#

No. Money in Earn+ is not a bank deposit and is not insured by the FDIC, SIPC, or any other deposit-insurance or investor-protection scheme. Ethena Pay does not guarantee the rewards or the value of what you move in. See also our Disclaimers.

How do I withdraw, and how long does it take?#

You can withdraw from Earn+ at any time; there are no lock-ups. A withdrawal is processed within 24 hours and paid into your USD Account, with no fee from Ethena Pay. Adding money to Earn+ is instant.

If a withdrawal takes longer than usual, the app shows it as still processing and notifies you when it arrives. You do not need to do anything. If it has not arrived after that, contact support.

How does the referral program work?

If you refer a new user who registers via your link, completes identity verification, and meets the qualifying activity conditions, you may earn a USD $30-equivalent bonus credited in AVAX. Self-referrals, bulk distribution, and unsolicited communications are prohibited. Full rules are in the Referral Program Terms.

What are the fees?

There are no account opening, monthly, or inactivity fees, and the Spend Card is 0% APR on purchases. Spending in U.S. dollars is free.

We charge no foreign exchange fee, no cross-border fee, and no markup on currency conversion — we earn nothing on it. Where you spend in another currency, the card network converts the transaction and charges a fee for doing so, which we pass through to you at cost. For most currencies that is around 1%. The figure is the card network’s, varies by currency, and is not ours to set or cap.

ATM cash withdrawals, where available to you, cost $1.00 plus 0.65% of the amount withdrawn, and the ATM operator may add its own surcharge. Late Payment / Returned Payment fees of up to $40 / $29 may apply. Third-party fees (blockchain “gas,” card network adjustments, funding-partner charges) may be additional. See the full breakdown on the Pricing Page.

How do I file a complaint?

Email complaints@ethenapay.co, use the in-app “Submit a Complaint” link, or write to our Malta office. We acknowledge complaints within five business days and aim to provide a final response within fifteen business days. Full procedure (including external escalation routes) is in the User Complaint Procedure.

How do I get support?

Email support@ethenapay.co, call 1-844-ETHA-PAY, or visit the contact page. You can also access in-app help directly through the Ethena Pay App.