Crypto Payment Cards Become the Main Solution for Daily Stablecoin Spending

Crypto cards have evolved into a practical bridge connecting the digital asset ecosystem with traditional payment systems. In recent years, these cards have proven to be the most effective payment instrument for stablecoin users, far surpassing other alternative methods.

Growth Explosion: From Niche Market to Major Player

Transaction activity using crypto cards has entered an extraordinary growth phase. According to the latest Artemis research, the monthly volume of these cards increased dramatically from around $100 million at the beginning of 2023 to over $1.5 billion by the end of 2025. This figure reflects a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 106%, indicating consistent acceleration in adoption.

Annually, the crypto card market has reached $18 billion, an impressive achievement that nearly matches the peer-to-peer stablecoin transfer volume of $19 billion. The significant difference lies in the growth rate: while crypto cards grow rapidly with a CAGR of 106%, peer-to-peer transfers only increased by 5% over the same period.

Why Cards Remain the Dominant Choice for Stablecoin Payments

Although there is increasing interest in direct stablecoin acceptance at the merchant level, crypto payment cards continue to hold their position as the leading payment solution. The main reason is simple yet effective: cards can be directly operated on the established Visa and Mastercard infrastructure without requiring new merchant integrations.

This strategy offers significant commercial advantages. Users can spend stablecoins and other digital assets at thousands of traditional merchants without system changes. In Q4 2025, spending using stablecoin-linked Visa cards reached an annual level of $3.5 billion, representing about 19% of the total crypto card volume.

Stablecoin Landscape: USDT Dominance with Notable Regional Exceptions

Across the global market, USDT (Tether) clearly dominates stablecoin transaction volume. However, two countries stand out as true outliers in their stablecoin usage patterns: India and Argentina.

In India, USDC captures 47.4% of all stablecoin transactions via payment cards, reaching a usage level nearly equal to USDT. Argentina shows a similar pattern with USDC representing 46.6% of stablecoin volume, the only market where these two major stablecoins are in almost perfect balance.

This phenomenon reflects India’s position as the largest crypto market in the Asia-Pacific region based on inflow of funds. In the 12 months ending June 2025, India recorded an inflow of $338 billion, demonstrating a spectacular growth of 4,800% over the past five years.

Payment Infrastructure: Visa and Mastercard as the Foundation of the Crypto Card Ecosystem

The crypto payment card ecosystem is built on a proven payment infrastructure foundation. Visa controls over 90% of on-chain card volume through strategic partnerships with various crypto-based infrastructure providers.

This structure demonstrates how blockchain technology and digital assets are integrated with the traditional payment ecosystem. Card issuers and program managers collaborate with these established payment networks to create seamless payment experiences for stablecoin users.

This transformation indicates that crypto payment cards are not just transactional tools but a crucial bridge that accelerates stablecoin adoption for everyday payments in the real economy.