Image credit: Shutterstock
Key Takeaways
- Crypto card spending tripled year over year to $1.04 billion in July, with stablecoins funding 70% of over 10 million tracked transactions
- USDC and USDT together accounted for roughly 71% of July volume, while average payment size rose to about $86 from $59 a year earlier
- Spending is shifting toward routine everyday purchases like groceries and food delivery, with adoption growing fastest in lower-GDP markets
Crypto-linked card spending tripled year over year to $1.04 billion in July, driven largely by dollar-backed stablecoins funding routine purchases such as groceries, ride-hailing and food delivery. Paymentscan data published by venture capital firm a16z shows stablecoins funded 70% of more than 10 million tracked transactions during the month.
Stablecoin Funding Share Climbs as Average Payment Size Grows
USDC accounted for 50.8% of July card volume and USDT another 20.3%, according to the Paymentscan figures. A year earlier, the two stablecoins represented roughly 48% and 7% of volume, respectively. Monthly tracked volume stood at $306 million in July 2025, meaning the market more than tripled over 12 months.
The average payment size rose to about $86 per transaction, up from $59 a year earlier. Paymentscan’s August figures were not yet complete at the time the July data was compiled.
Crypto cards let users spend stablecoins and other digital assets through existing payment networks such as Visa and Mastercard, without requiring merchants to accept cryptocurrency directly. Depending on the issuer, users either deposit funds with the card provider or hold them in a self-custody wallet, with the balance converted to local currency at checkout.
Spending Patterns Point Toward Routine Use Rather Than Off-Ramping
Regional operator data suggests stablecoin balances are increasingly funding recurring purchases rather than one-time conversions to cash.
Oobit said active users in Brazil spend approximately $400 per month across 20 transactions, with grocery stores accounting for 35% of the company’s reported regional activity. In Argentina, 72% of Oobit payments used USDT, and food purchases made up 41% of transactions.
Binance said the average number of card users in Brazil rose 53% between the product’s launch quarter and the second quarter of 2026, with average spending volume up 80% over the same period.
The company said leading use cases included ride-hailing, food delivery, groceries, restaurants and online subscriptions. Binance’s card is also available in Argentina.
Kraken reported a similar trend. The exchange said weekly stablecoin payments on its Krak Card more than doubled over the past year to 8.3 per user, with retail and store purchases accounting for 59.3% of spending. About half of transactions were funded using an asset other than the card’s underlying euro or pound denomination.
Market Volume Remains Concentrated Among a Small Group of Platforms
The tracked data remains heavily weighted toward a handful of providers. RedotPay generated $395.1 million of July volume, followed by EtherFi at $100.3 million and KAST at $89.6 million. Together, the three platforms accounted for approximately 77% of Paymentscan’s tracked total.
RedotPay’s figures in the dataset are self-reported rather than independently observed on-chain, a distinction Paymentscan’s methodology does not fully resolve. RedotPay said its customer base grew more than 33% over the past six months to more than 8 million users.
EtherFi’s chief executive said the platform’s $100.3 million figure represents card purchase volume and excludes approximately $30 million in separate fiat transfers. Purchase volume on the platform stood below $10 million in July 2025, two months after launch, with most deposits in USDC or USDT and fiat transfers accounting for about 20% of activity.
Adoption Accelerates Faster in Lower-Income Markets
StraitsX, a Visa partner that helps other crypto firms launch card products, said gross transaction value on its infrastructure rose approximately 600% in lower-GDP markets between March 2025 and February 2026, compared with 150% growth in higher-GDP markets over the same period.
Food and retail were the platform’s largest spending categories. Visa said in June it had more than 160 stablecoin-linked card programs live or in development globally. StraitsX Chief Executive Tianwei Liu said:
“What stands out most is how ordinary the spending has become.”
Coinbase reported a different pattern. A company spokesperson said approximately 16% of combined volume across its credit and debit cards involved USDC, while active Coinbase One cardholders spent about $3,000 per month through a combination of USDC, other crypto assets and bank transfers.
That spending level contrasts with the $20 billion in USDC currently held across Coinbase products, up 44% over the past year, suggesting customers hold substantially more stablecoin value than they spend through the company’s cards.
Dollar-backed stablecoins have also displaced earlier alternatives in the tracked market. The euro-backed EURe stablecoin represented as much as 88% of tracked card spending in early 2024 but accounted for less than 2% in July 2026.
