Case file · Card
Moon
A crypto-funded virtual Visa marketed "no KYC, just email + a name" - whose consumer card has been shut down by its issuer bank twice, with refunds after the late-2025 shutdown now gated behind KYC. Listed as a warning.
The systematized overview
The bureau vs the internet.
2.4/10 · KYC-on-trigger (discontinued in practice)
Moon sold a crypto-funded virtual Visa on a "no KYC, just email and a name" pitch, but its consumer no-KYC card has now been killed by its sponsor bank twice - in 2023 and again around late 2025 - and after the latest shutdown users report being required to pass KYC to get refunds that do not arrive. Moon’s own terms let it demand ID "at any time," sweep a card’s balance as a "fee" when the program terminates, and route disputes to a private arbitration center in Prospera, Honduras. We classify it defunct/discontinued in practice and list it only as a warning; do not load funds. Reported fund losses are attributed to the users who described them, not asserted by us.
2 recurring praises · 3 recurring gripes
Most praised: historically frictionless: no id to spend, crypto/lightning funding. Most cited downside: consumer card shut down by its issuer twice; refunds kyc-gated and reported unpaid.
We track our editorial score and community sentiment separately — neither moves the other. Read together, they're the systematized overview.
The facts
Issuer, custody & load terms.
- Issuer / BIN
- Unnamed - "our partner Financial Institutions, pursuant to a license from Visa"; operator Moon LLC (US)
- Custody
- Custodial store-credit ("Moon Credit"); not redeemable in cash or fiat per the Terms
- KYC trigger
- Historically none to spend, but ID reservable "at any time"; universal KYC now gates refunds post-shutdown
- Card type
- Virtual prepaid Visa (Moon X reloadable; Moon 1X one-time)
- Load method
- Bitcoin (on-chain / Lightning), USDT on Tron, USDC on Polygon
- Limits
- $4,000 per month account-wide; card valid 3 years
- Fees
- First card free, $2.99 each additional; 1% per purchase; $40 excessive-refund fee
- Coins
- BTC (Lightning), USDT, USDC (no Monero)
- Payment privacy
- Email + a real name; deposits Chainalysis-screened; no Monero
- Availability
- Was 130+ countries; consumer card discontinued in practice
- Freezes / voids if
- Balance swept as a "fee" on program termination or expiry; access "permanently restricted" if eligibility unverified; KYC now gates refunds
- Since
- ~2019 (consumer card discontinued in practice ~late 2025)
The full read
Our analysis, in plain words.
Moon spent years as a go-to "no KYC, just email and a name" crypto-funded virtual Visa. The marketing was real, but so was the fine print: the Terms always reserved the right to demand ID "at any time," every crypto deposit was screened through Chainalysis, and - crucially - a clause let Moon charge a "fee upon termination equivalent to the remaining balance" whenever a sponsor bank ended the program. That last clause is the whole story of this card.
It has now happened twice. In 2023 Moon’s issuing bank ended its contract and every card was terminated. Then around late 2025, users report the card "stopped working" - reportedly after the card issuer shut the program down again - and that all users must now pass full KYC to request a refund, with those refunds reported as unpaid or stuck "in review." An account presenting as Moon’s CEO had earlier, in an August 2025 thread, attributed a locked $1,000 deposit to coins "flagged by Chainalysis." Moon has since pivoted toward B2B card-issuing APIs and a KYC’d Mexican credit product.
We classify Moon defunct - the no-KYC consumer card is discontinued in practice - and lead the page with a warning. We do not apply a "scam" label: the operator frames the fund-locks as compliance, and the Scam tier requires proven intent to seize, which is not established. But the pattern is corroborated enough to score at the bottom of the cohort: a bait-and-switch KYC gate imposed on refunds after deposits, and a product killed by its own sponsor twice. All "exit scam," "lost $1,000," and "stranded" characterisations belong to the users who made them; what we assert are the shutdowns, the KYC-refund gate, and Moon’s own contract terms. Do not load funds to any site using the Moon name.
The score, broken down
How the 2.4 is built.
Privacy
weight 50%What identity, data and metadata the service can demand or collect.
35 × 50% = 1.8 of 10
Trust
weight 30%Whether it can technically deliver what it claims — code, audits, age.
17 × 30% = 0.5 of 10
Reliability
weight 20%Whether the no-KYC claim holds under real-world pressure.
6 × 20% = 0.1 of 10
Weighted total 2.4 / 10 · no reliability rule triggered, so the score stands. See the rubric →
Every point, sourced
What earned the score.
Privacy
The fine print, read for you
The clause they bury.
“In the event of the termination of a card program by its sponsor, whether a merchant or financial institution, the card products will be charged a fee upon termination equivalent to the remaining balance on the cards.”
What it meansThis is a written-in mechanism to zero out your balance the moment the issuing bank exits - which is exactly what has happened twice. The whole product depends on an unnamed sponsor bank not leaving, and when it does, the terms let Moon sweep whatever is left on your card as a "fee." (Quote captured from a Wayback snapshot; re-confirm on the live site before relying on exact wording.)
Read the source →“you may be required at any time to complete a customer identification program to continue to use these Services.”
What it meansThe "no KYC" marketing sits directly against a contract that reserves ID "at any time." In practice, after the late-2025 shutdown, users report a universal KYC gate on refunds - you must verify identity to try to get your own money back, and reports say the refunds then sit "in review" indefinitely. That is a bait-and-switch on top of a dead product.
Read the source →Historically none to buy or spend (email + a name), but the contract reserves ID "at any time," every crypto deposit is screened via Chainalysis, and after the late-2025 shutdown users report a blanket KYC requirement to obtain a refund. In practice the no-KYC consumer card is discontinued; what remains is a KYC-gated refund process.
Policy review — point by point
-
Balance-sweep on program termination
The Terms allow a "fee upon termination equivalent to the remaining balance on the cards" when a sponsor ends the program - which has occurred twice. ↗
-
ID reservable "at any time"
"you may be required at any time to complete a customer identification program to continue to use these Services" - directly contradicting the "no KYC" marketing. ↗
-
No fiat redemption; permanent restriction
Moon Credit "will not in any case be redeemable in cash or refunded in fiat currency," and access "may be permanently restricted" if eligibility cannot be verified. ↗
-
Forced arbitration in Prospera, Honduras
Disputes are routed to the "exclusive jurisdiction of Prospera Arbitration Center" under the rules of Prospera, Honduras - an unusually obscure forum for a US-operated consumer product. ↗
Moon LLC is US-operated with a public presence since ~2019, but the card’s issuing bank is never named ("our partner Financial Institutions"), and disputes are routed to a private arbitration center in Prospera, Honduras - a ZEDE special jurisdiction - which is an unusually adverse and obscure forum for a US consumer product. The entire product depended on an unnamed sponsor bank that has now exited twice, leaving users with a KYC-gated refund process and no clear recourse.
We keep watching
Incident & policy timeline.
- Feb-Mar 2023
First issuer shutdown
Moon announced it would stop selling Moon Visa prepaid cards on 15 Feb 2023 "due to the scheduled termination of our contract with the card’s Issuing Bank," with all cards terminated 15 Mar 2023 - the first death of the consumer product.
source ↗ - Aug 2025
Chainalysis-flag lock reported (CEO reply)
A user reported a $1,000 deposit locked on first use with a KYC demand. In a reply on stacker.news, an account presenting as Moon’s CEO said the coins were "flagged by Chainalysis" and that Moon is bound by compliance obligations. We attribute this to that account; the account’s identity as Moon’s CEO is reported, not independently verified.
source ↗ - ~Nov-Dec 2025
Second shutdown; refunds KYC-gated
Users report the card "stopped working" (reportedly after the card issuer shut the program down) and that all users must now pass KYC to request a refund, with refunds reported as unpaid or stuck "in review." Moon has pivoted toward B2B card-issuing APIs and a KYC’d Mexican credit product (MoonMX). The cause of the shutdown is reported, not confirmed.
source ↗
The verdict
Where it stands.
Strengths
- Historically no ID to spend (email + a name) while the card worked
- Crypto/Lightning funding; public US operator since ~2019
Trade-offs
- Consumer no-KYC card shut down by its issuing bank twice
- Refunds after the late-2025 shutdown gated behind KYC and reported unpaid
- Terms let Moon sweep a card’s balance as a "fee" on program termination
- Unnamed issuer; Chainalysis screening; Prospera-Honduras arbitration; no Monero
Across the internet
What reviewers report.
Consistently praised
- Historically frictionless: no ID to spend, crypto/Lightning funding
- Long-running public US operator
Recurring complaints
- Consumer card shut down by its issuer twice; refunds KYC-gated and reported unpaid
- Deposits Chainalysis-screened; surprise locks reported
- Balance-sweep-on-termination clause; Prospera arbitration; no Monero
Trustpilot ~2.6/5. Corroborated pattern across stacker.news (three threads, incl. a CEO-attributed Chainalysis reply), Trustpilot and bitcointalk: two issuer shutdowns and a post-2025 KYC gate on refunds. Fund-loss and "exit scam" characterisations are attributed to the users who made them; noKYCme asserts only the shutdowns, the KYC-refund gate and Moon’s own terms.
Keep exploring
Related lists & categories.
Ask the bureau
Moon, common questions.
Can I still use Moon’s no-KYC card?
In practice, no. Moon’s consumer no-KYC Visa has been shut down by its issuing bank twice (2023 and again around late 2025), and after the latest shutdown users report the card stopped working and refunds require KYC. We classify it defunct/discontinued in practice and list it only as a warning. Do not load funds.
Was Moon really no-KYC?
Historically you could spend with only an email and a name, but the contract always reserved ID "at any time," and every crypto deposit was screened via Chainalysis. After the late-2025 shutdown, refunds are gated behind full KYC. So the "no KYC" was a default that has now been withdrawn.
Did users lose money on Moon?
Users report locked deposits, a KYC gate on refunds, and refunds stuck "in review." An account presenting as Moon’s CEO said one deposit was locked because the coins were "flagged by Chainalysis." We report these as attributed accounts, not as a finding that Moon stole funds - the operator frames the locks as compliance, which is why we classify it defunct rather than a scam.
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