Reference
Crypto card glossary
The words you’ll meet in card terms, tax pages and regulator notices.
Short answer
This glossary defines 39 terms you will meet in crypto card terms, CRA pages and regulator notices, in a sentence or two each. The ones that change your money most are adjusted cost base, disposition, custody, spread, staking and the foreign-currency fee; each links to the guide or tool where it matters.
Figures as of November 3, 2026.
- Adjusted cost base (ACB)
- What your crypto cost you for tax purposes, usually the purchase price plus acquisition costs. For identical units, CRA averages the cost across all units you hold. More →
- Average cost
- Total cost of identical units you hold divided by the number of units, recalculated each time you acquire more. More →
- Barter transaction
- Exchanging crypto directly for goods or services. CRA lists it as a disposition, which is why paying with a card that sells your crypto can create a gain or loss. More →
- Capital gain
- Proceeds of a disposition minus its ACB and costs. One-half is taxable at the inclusion rate in force on October 31, 2026.
- Capital loss
- A disposition for less than its ACB. Allowable capital losses offset taxable capital gains; net losses can be carried back three years or forward indefinitely.
- CARF
- The OECD Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework. Canada plans to require platforms to report users’ transactions to CRA, with application deferred to January 1, 2027 and the bill not yet law on October 30, 2026. More →
- CDIC
- Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation. Insures eligible deposits at member institutions. It does not cover crypto, including stablecoins. More →
- CIRO
- Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization, the self-regulatory organization for investment dealers. Crypto trading platforms are expected to become CIRO members. More →
- Contactless / tap
- Paying by holding a card or phone near the terminal. Phone wallets send a device token instead of your card number.
- Crypto-asset trading platform (CTP)
- A business that lets clients buy, sell or hold crypto. In Canada it must register with securities regulators or operate under a pre-registration undertaking.
- CSA
- Canadian Securities Administrators, the umbrella group of provincial and territorial securities regulators. It publishes the list of authorized crypto platforms. More →
- Custodial
- The platform (through a custodian) holds the keys to your crypto. Most crypto cards in Canada are custodial. More →
- Custodian (qualified)
- An institution that safeguards client assets. Registered platforms must use qualified custodians and keep client assets segregated.
- Disposition
- Selling, trading, gifting or spending crypto. Each disposition can create a gain or loss.
- Eligible crypto investor
- A client category in many platform decisions, based on net assets or income, that lifts the $30,000 net investment limit on non-specified crypto assets in some provinces. More →
- Fair market value (FMV)
- The CAD value of a crypto-asset at a point in time. You need it for every reward credit and disposition.
- FINTRAC
- Canada’s financial intelligence unit. Businesses dealing in virtual currency must register with it as money services businesses.
- Foreign transaction (FX) fee
- A percentage a card charges on purchases in a foreign currency, on top of the exchange rate. More →
- Hot wallet
- Crypto keys kept on an internet-connected system for quick transfers. Platforms keep most assets offline (cold) and a share hot.
- Interchange
- A fee the merchant’s side pays the card issuer on each card payment. It helps fund card rewards.
- KYC
- Know your customer: identity checks a platform must run before opening your account.
- Lock-up
- A period during which staked tokens cannot be withdrawn or sold. More →
- Money services business (MSB)
- A business that, among other things, deals in virtual currency. MSBs register with FINTRAC.
- Network (card network)
- Visa or Mastercard. The network sets acceptance rules; a bank or licensed issuer issues the card.
- Payout asset
- What a reward is paid in: bitcoin, a platform token, or CAD.
- Pre-registration undertaking (PRU)
- A commitment a crypto platform signs with regulators so it can keep operating while its registration is reviewed. Listed by the CSA. More →
- Prepaid card
- A card that spends a balance you load in advance. No credit is extended. Most crypto cards in Canada are prepaid. More →
- Program manager
- The company that runs a card program on behalf of the issuing bank and the brand you see.
- Seed phrase
- The 12 or 24 words that restore a self-custody wallet. Anyone with it controls the funds. Never share it.
- Self-custody
- You hold the keys to your crypto in your own wallet. No platform can freeze it, and no one can recover it if you lose the keys. More →
- Spread
- The gap between the price a platform buys at and the price it sells at. A conversion with no stated fee can still cost you through the spread.
- Stablecoin (VRCA)
- A crypto-asset designed to hold a fixed value, usually one dollar. The CSA calls them value-referenced crypto assets. More →
- Staking
- Locking tokens with a platform or network to earn rewards or unlock benefits. CRA treats rewards from staking on a centralized platform as income when credited. More →
- Superficial loss
- A loss denied for tax because you, or an affiliated person, acquired the same property within 30 days before or after the sale and still held it 30 days after.
- Tier
- A level of a card program, often unlocked by staking a token or paying a subscription, with its own reward rate and perks.
- Tokenization (wallet)
- Apple Pay and Google Pay replace your card number with a device-specific token, so the merchant never sees the real number.
- Travel rule
- FINTRAC requirement since June 1, 2021 that crypto transfers carry originator and beneficiary information.
- Value-referenced crypto asset (VRCA)
- The CSA’s term for a stablecoin.
- Vesting
- A delay before a reward becomes yours to withdraw or sell.
| Reward credits | 0.00025, 0.00026 and 0.00031 BTCcredited at $82,000, $79,000 and $66,000 per BTC |
|---|---|
| Later sale | 0.0006 BTC at $90,000 per BTC |
| CAD value when credited (all three) | $61.50 |
| Proceeds of the sale | $54.00 |
| A: gain if rewards were income when credited | $9.00average cost $75,000.00 per BTC; taxable half $4.50 |
| B: gain if rewards had nil cost | $54.00taxable half $27.00 |
Try your own credits in the reward records tool →Computed 2026-11-03.