Why Did China’s Most Popular Crypto Card Suddenly Shut Down?

Jun 23, 2025

By WuBlockchain

All information in this article is compiled from public sources. The views expressed do not represent those of Wu Says, and this is not investment advice. Readers should comply strictly with local laws and regulations and refrain from engaging in any illegal financial activities.

In early June, the founder of Infini was still promoting the U Card in interviews. Yet, just days later, the company abruptly announced its closure, sparking widespread discussion.

On June 17 around noon, Infini suddenly issued a notice stating:

“We have decided to discontinue the Infini Card service. Effective immediately, all Global, Lite, and Tech cards will be suspended for both usage and new applications. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. Core functions such as deposits, withdrawals, and Earn yield services remain unaffected, and your assets are safe and under your control. To properly handle this transition, we will automatically refund all affected users the actual card issuance fees they paid (excluding any discounts) to their Infini account balance. The refund will be processed within 10 business days and requires no manual action. Any pending refunds will be returned to your Infini account within 5–21 business days. Your funds remain safe.”

Infini co-founder “Junzhu” explained:

“Infini is exiting the consumer-facing card business. The reason is that compliance costs are extremely high, profit margins are razor thin, and operations are extremely burdensome. Currently, the consumer card business consumes 99% of our time and resources, yet generates zero revenue.

Our focus is shifting to wealth management and financial services. At present, crypto cards still rely on off-ramping USDT or USDC and then routing through traditional payment networks to achieve stablecoin-to-fiat payments. This process is too convoluted, slow, and expensive. Without subsidies, it’s hard to match Web2’s fee structures and cashback offerings.The U Card is not the final solution for Web3 payments using stablecoins. Infini is still a centralized product, but we plan to fully embrace decentralization and rethink how to integrate decentralized payment solutions. We are absolutely not taking the old centralized path.”

Junzhu also mentioned that in developing the U Card, they had once consulted with OneKey—but ironically ended up with a similar outcome. Hardware wallet provider OneKey had also launched a U Card, but later shut the service down unexpectedly.

Some speculate this closure may be related to the recent incident involving Bewildcard. WildCard is a platform offering virtual credit card services that enables users to easily sign up for and pay for overseas services. The platform had optimized the OpenAI experience, including automatic ChatGPT Plus registration and upgrades. It is rumored that WildCard is under investigation.

Infini founder Christian recently highlighted the unique features of the Infini Card in a Twitter Space:

“Infini Card has always focused on serving the general public and retail users—that was our founding vision. Unlike the VIP-oriented crypto cards offered by exchanges, our card is more user-friendly and practical for everyday users.

Crypto cards are a ‘thankless’ product, but we’ve always strived to improve user experience. Our fees are transparent and highly competitive. In particular, our USD-based card transaction fee is just 0.1%, one of the lowest in the market. We plan to further optimize costs and maintain long-term price competitiveness. Most notably, we offer yield on the card balance, which is rare in the market. Many users keep some USDT on their cards for daily spending—we offer flexible yield products to offset depreciation from usage. These yields come from strategies we’ve developed and tested with strong performance, including some that are hard to find on other DeFi platforms. We’re also happy to share these strategies openly with our users.”

Twitter user @knowyourself518 commented that a single internal whistleblower triggered an investigation into the U Card business, and the resulting fines could far exceed the cost of obtaining a license. One major penalty can be fatal. If coupled with the opaque nature of on-chain fund flows (e.g., difficulty in proving the source of funds), compliance costs can rise exponentially. Cases of U Cards being abused by telecom fraud groups are rampant. However, unlike exchanges, which generate revenue from trading fees, these platforms have no sustainable income stream and are forced to directly shoulder retail user risks—long-term operations can easily run into trouble.

What’s more brutal: card networks and upstream banks often shift the burden of AML (Anti-Money Laundering) violations entirely onto the card-issuing entity. At best, this means forfeiting the full security deposit; at worst, it results in license revocation. Meanwhile, intermediary institutions just collect their fees. Even owning a bank doesn’t help—if Visa or Mastercard is dissatisfied, the bank is liable for fines, and failure to pay can lead to expulsion from the card network. So buying a bank doesn’t solve the root problem.

The actual cost borne by users is much higher than the advertised 1–2% transaction fee. There are card issuance fees, FX conversion losses, top-up frictions, etc. Without subsidies, the industry’s true average fee rate sits around 3–5%. Compared to traditional credit card giants like Visa and Mastercard—who benefit from massive transaction volumes and fee advantages—the U Card is uncompetitive in low-volume use cases. Without heavy subsidies, average users won’t adopt it.

Crypto cards are low-margin products that require large transaction volumes and idle capital deposits to be profitable. They’re also resource-intensive to operate. Yet as the business scales, so do compliance and operational costs. In essence, scalability is key—and ideally, the card business should synergize with the company’s core offerings.

It’s worth noting that card networks, upstream banks, and payment processors collect fees and fines, while all the operational risks (asset management failures, regulatory penalties, fraud losses) are borne by the startup. This essentially turns the U Card business into a game where compliance arbitrageurs harvest Web3 venture capital. So no, the U Card is not a good business. Payments themselves don’t generate significant profits, and consumer-facing financial products with heavy compliance burdens are not something a startup can easily tackle.

Despite Infini’s exit, the U Card space remains hot. On March 14, 2025, RedotPay announced a successful $40 million Series A round led by Lightspeed. HSG and Galaxy Ventures also contributed significant funding, following commitments made in December 2024. Other participating investors included DST Global Partners, Accel, and Temasek-backed Vertex Ventures.

At the June State of Crypto conference, Coinbase unveiled the “Coinbase One Card” in partnership with American Express, offering Bitcoin cashback and staking rewards. The company is also working with Shopify and Stripe to expand the footprint of USDC payments—bridging stablecoins from on-chain use to real-world spending.

Twitter user @portal_kay previously broke down the lifecycle of a U Card, which involves a clear division of labor across upstream and downstream players, including:

● Card Networks (e.g., Visa, Mastercard): Set rules, operate the global payment and clearing network, and issue Bank Identification Numbers (BINs) to licensed financial institutions.

● BIN Providers (e.g., Evolve Bank, Railsr): Licensed entities managing BINs, reviewing partners, and overseeing compliance and settlement.

● Issuing Institutions (e.g., REAP, Airwallex): Handle cardholder account creation, KYC/KYT compliance, fiat custody, and settlement—usually without touching crypto directly.

● Card Program Managers (e.g., Bybit Card, Bitget Card): Oversee product design, user operations, API development, risk control, and marketing in collaboration with issuers and networks.

● Fiat-Crypto Converters (e.g., MoonPay, Circle): Handle USDT deposits and convert them to fiat to be stored in custodian accounts.

● Card Manufacturing & Tech Integrators (e.g., IDEMIA, G+D): Provide physical card printing or virtual card APIs, and support Apple Pay / Google Pay. Modern BaaS companies also offer SDK integration solutions.

These entities work closely to ensure the functionality and compliance of U Card operations.

FinTax has pointed out several legal risks associated with using U Cards. In countries with strict foreign exchange controls, even though U Cards may not impose usage limits, outbound transfers that exceed national FX quotas can violate regulations. If discovered, users may face administrative penalties or even criminal charges.

Moreover, in jurisdictions where the legal status of cryptocurrencies is ambiguous—or outright banned—using a U Card for crypto transactions may be considered illegal. Therefore, users must understand local compliance requirements before using such cards. Importantly, U Cards must not be used for unlawful purposes. High-frequency or large-volume transactions, or assisting others in cashing out, could be deemed illegal business operations or money laundering, potentially leading to criminal prosecution.

Some users attempt to use U Cards for tax evasion, taking advantage of their partial anonymity to conceal income. However, this strategy is ineffective. While U Cards may offer some level of anonymity, most still rely on international card networks (Visa, Mastercard), which log detailed data about each transaction—amount, merchant info, timestamps, etc. Tax authorities can trace these flows.

For cross-border transactions, authorities can also utilize foreign exchange monitoring systems and banking information exchanges. Many countries have signed onto the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), making cross-border financial activity more transparent. Tax agencies can access transaction data linked to U Cards through these frameworks.

Additionally, payment platforms often require full identity verification for large transactions. If a user frequently handles significant fund transfers, they may be asked to provide documentation proving the legitimacy of the funds. As such, attempts to use U Cards for tax evasion are not only ineffective, but may also trigger audits and penalties.

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