Cypherhq

Cypherhq (CypherD Wallet Inc.) was a Y Combinator-backed self-custody crypto card platform that allowed users to spend cryptocurrency from a non-custodial wallet anywhere Visa is accepted. The platform entered wind-down in July 2026 following acquisition by Nium and fully shut down on September 6, 2026.

Core Mechanism

Cypher combined a non-custodial wallet with a Visa Platinum prepaid card, letting users hold crypto assets under their own control and convert them to fiat at the point of sale. Unlike custodial crypto cards that require depositing funds into a platform account, Cypher users retained ownership of their assets in a self-custody wallet protected by a personal recovery phrase. At checkout, the app converted just enough cryptocurrency to cover each transaction, with no pre-loaded balance sitting in a company account.

Users could create wallets via email, import existing wallets using seed phrases, or connect external wallets like MetaMask through WalletConnect. The wallet and card were available as a mobile app (iOS and Android) and a Chrome browser extension.

Supported Blockchains and Tokens

The platform supported 15+ blockchains with access to over 500 tokens: Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, Binance Smart Chain, Solana, Avalanche, Cosmos, Injective, Osmosis, Coreum, ZKsync ERA, Noble, and Hyperliquid. Cypher covered several chains — Injective, Osmosis, Coreum, and Hyperliquid — that no competing crypto card touched at the time. The integrated wallet also supported swap and bridge functionality across 25+ chains spanning EVM, Solana, Cosmos, and Tron networks, enabling users to consolidate assets from multiple chains before spending.

Card Tiers

Cypher offered two Visa Platinum tiers. The free Standard plan included a 1.75% foreign exchange markup on non-USD purchases, a 0.5% USDC load fee, and a $50,000 daily spending limit. The Premium plan at $199 per year lowered the FX markup to 0.75%, waived USDC load fees on eight major chains, included a free metal card with $300 chargeback coverage, a 2x reward multiplier, and a $200,000 daily limit. Both tiers supported Apple Pay, Google Pay, and ATM withdrawals. The platform was available in 150+ countries with virtual cards available instantly and optional physical cards.

CYPR Token

The platform's native token, CYPR, launched on October 5, 2025 on the Base network with a hard supply cap of 1 billion tokens. It was listed on Binance Alpha, KuCoin, and Aerodrome Finance. Users earned CYPR rewards at a base rate of 0.17 CYPR per $10 spent, distributed in 15-day epochs. Premium members received double the base rate. Token holders could lock CYPR as veCYPR for two years to participate in governance voting on brand partnerships and access up to 35% cashback through active community participation. Community-voted partner merchants offered elevated reward rates determined by veCYPR voting weight. At token launch, 8.5% of the supply was airdropped to early community members, with 10% of that allocation automatically locked as veCYPR.

Solana Ecosystem Fit

Solana was among Cypher's core supported chains, giving Solana-native token and stablecoin holders direct access to point-of-sale spending without moving assets into a custodial account. The wallet's multi-chain swap and bridge infrastructure included Solana as both a source and destination chain, and Solana users could initiate token swaps or bridge funds before spending, all within the same app.

Business Platform

Cypher operated a B2B product, Cypher Business, enabling enterprises to issue multi-employee cards, track expenses by category and employee, and access global payouts via SWIFT, ACH, and NEFT transfers. The developer API provided webhook alerts for DEBIT, CREDIT, REFUND, DECLINE, LOW_BALANCE_ALERT, and DAILY_BALANCE_ALERT events, with on-chain transaction hash data included in credit-event payloads.

Team and Backing

CypherD Wallet Inc. was founded in 2022 and completed Y Combinator's W22 batch. The CEO, publicly known as Kube, previously served as a Risk Engineering Lead at Coinbase. Investors included Y Combinator, Samsung Next, Coinbase Ventures, and Balaji Srinivasan. The company closed a $4.3 million seed round in January 2023. By mid-2026 the platform had grown to over 100,000 users across 120+ countries.

Shutdown

On July 8, 2026, Cypherhq was acquired by Nium, a global payments infrastructure company. Card loading was disabled on acquisition date, all active cards were canceled on August 8, 2026, and the full platform shutdown completed on September 6, 2026. The CYPR token protocol and ecosystem were permanently wound down alongside the platform closure. Cypherhq's official shutdown page instructed users to withdraw remaining balances before the September 6 deadline.