Crypto card spending tops $1bn as Stablecoins move into everyday payments

Cryptocurrency-funded card spending has more than tripled over the past year, topping $1bn and offering further evidence that stablecoins are moving beyond trading and cross-border transfers into everyday consumer payments.

Monthly spending on crypto cards reached $1.04 billion in July across more than 10 million tracked transactions, according to Paymentscan data reported by CoinDesk. The growth has been driven overwhelmingly by dollar-backed stablecoins, which accounted for around 70% of transaction volume.

USDC represented approximately half of tracked volume, compared with around 48% a year earlier. Tether’s USDT has expanded much more sharply, increasing its share from roughly 7% to 20.3%.

The figures are significant because crypto cards solve one of the principal obstacles facing digital currencies as a mainstream payment method: merchant acceptance.

Rather than requiring retailers to accept cryptocurrency directly, cards allow consumers to fund purchases using stablecoins or other digital assets while transactions continue to travel across established card infrastructure.

Depending on the product, digital assets are held either with the card provider or within a linked crypto wallet. At the point of purchase, the required balance can be converted into conventional currency, meaning merchants receive payment without having to alter their existing acceptance arrangements.

This creates an increasingly interesting relationship between stablecoins and the traditional card industry. Rather than immediately displacing Visa and Mastercard, digital currencies can effectively provide a new source of funds for transactions running across their networks.

Speaking to CoinDesk, Thomas Gregory, VP of Payments and Fiat at Binance, said, “The real measure of crypto’s progress is not simply how many people own digital assets, but how useful those assets become in everyday life.”

Stablecoins have traditionally found their strongest use cases in cryptocurrency trading, dollar-denominated savings and international money movement. Card integration potentially extends their utility into groceries, retail purchases and other routine expenditure.

The emerging model also removes much of the complexity from the consumer experience. Instead of persuading millions of merchants to integrate cryptocurrency acceptance independently, providers can connect digital assets to payment credentials and infrastructure consumers already understand.

Separate PYMNTS Intelligence research suggests this could be particularly important for adoption. More than three-quarters of consumers surveyed said they would consider opening a cryptocurrency or stablecoin wallet through an existing banking or fintech application.

For banks, fintechs and card issuers, the opportunity therefore extends beyond simply offering cryptocurrency custody. Combining wallets, real-time conversion and modern card processing could turn digital assets into another readily accessible funding source.

There remain substantial questions around regulation, consumer protection and the consistency of the payment experience. But the Paymentscan figures suggest crypto cards are beginning to bridge the divide between owning digital assets and actually spending them.

If that trajectory continues, stablecoins may achieve mainstream payment adoption not by replacing existing payment infrastructure, but by quietly becoming embedded within it.