Crypto cost card spending has jumped 2.5 instances from a yr earlier to succeed in $759 million in July, supported by almost 9 million purchases settled primarily via dollar-backed stablecoins.
A16z crypto reported the figures utilizing knowledge from Paymentscan, which tracks cost exercise linked to crypto card packages throughout a number of blockchains.
The month-to-month complete has climbed from lower than $1 million in October 2023, when Paymentscan started monitoring the market, to greater than three-quarters of a billion {dollars}. Card buy counts have risen alongside spending, reaching almost 9 million in July from about 5.2 million throughout the identical month final yr.
Based on the report, the 2 measures produced a median buy worth of roughly $86. Paymentscan’s knowledge covers on-chain exercise that it will possibly connect with particular person card packages, though the dataset handles its largest program otherwise.
RedotPay, which generated probably the most quantity amongst tracked issuers, self-reported its spending fairly than having the transactions immediately noticed on-chain. A16z recognized the excellence in its methodology, making RedotPay’s numbers depending on info provided by the corporate.
Crypto card spending has moved towards greenback stablecoins
$USDC dealt with about 58% of crypto card spending in July, whereas $USDT accounted for an additional 26%, in line with Paymentscan. One yr earlier, their respective shares stood at roughly 48% and seven%, which means $USDT recorded the bigger improve over the interval.
Collectively, the 2 dollar-backed tokens processed 84% of the cardboard quantity tracked in July. The figures correspond with separate Visa knowledge exhibiting $USDC has taken a big share of payment-related stablecoin exercise.
In June, $USDC processed about $1.21 trillion of the $1.79 trillion in adjusted stablecoin transfers recorded by Visa’s on-chain analytics dashboard, whereas $USDT dealt with roughly $576 billion. As crypto.information beforehand reported, adjusted switch quantity rose 63% from Could and 125% from June 2025, even because the stablecoin market’s complete worth declined by $7.7 billion.
Euro-backed tokens have misplaced their early lead within the card section. A16z mentioned EURe settled near 88% of card spending in early 2024, a lot of it via Gnosis, however its share had fallen to round 2% by July.
The change in token use occurred as card issuers added help for extra blockchains and dollar-backed belongings. Paymentscan’s figures confirmed that $USDC’s share gained about 10 share factors over the previous yr, whereas $USDT’s share elevated by about 19 factors.
Optimism leads crypto card settlement by chain
Optimism processed roughly 29% of tracked crypto card spending in July, putting it forward of Solana and Base, which every carried about 19%, Paymentscan knowledge confirmed. Gnosis accounted for about 2% after serving as the principle settlement chain in the course of the market’s early stage.
Gnosis Pay helped produce that preliminary focus by introducing what a16z described as the primary Visa card linked on to a self-custodial pockets. As extra issuers entered the market, settlement exercise unfold throughout networks providing completely different cost and pockets infrastructure.
Solana’s share additionally comes as cost suppliers launch playing cards that use the community for stablecoin transactions. In Could, Solayer launched a Visa card that lets prospects spend $USDC from the Solana-based Solayer InfiniSVM community. The Solayer card launch adopted the opening of Visa and Bridge’s stablecoin card program in 18 nations.
Base, an Ethereum layer-2 community developed by Coinbase, matched Solana’s 19% share within the Paymentscan dataset. Optimism and Base collectively processed almost half of the measured quantity, whereas Gnosis’ share fell as EURe use declined.
Crypto playing cards join stablecoin balances with Visa retailers
Crypto cost playing cards permit prospects to carry stablecoins with a card supplier or preserve them in a supported self-custodial pockets, relying on the product. At checkout, the service converts the digital belongings into the service provider’s native fiat forex and sends the cost via a longtime card community.
A16z mentioned retailers typically obtain the transaction in the identical kind as a typical card cost, eradicating the necessity for them to immediately settle for or handle crypto. Prospects can use the product wherever the supporting card community operates, whereas the issuer handles the conversion and settlement course of.
Some packages additionally present entry to dollar-denominated balances with out requiring customers to take care of a standard checking account. Custodial providers maintain the stablecoins for the cardholder, whereas self-custodial merchandise permit prospects to retain management via an on-chain pockets till funds are used.
Morph launched one other self-custodial mannequin in August, though its product focuses on direct enterprise funds as a substitute of card spending. The non-custodial cost platform lets companies and freelancers obtain $USDC and $USDT immediately into their wallets via invoices and cost hyperlinks.
Paymentscan’s tracked card packages used Visa nearly solely, in line with a16z. Regardless of the rise to $759 million, the report famous that crypto playing cards stay small in contrast with established card networks, which course of trillions of {dollars} every month.
U.S. guidelines are shaping dollar-backed cost tokens
For U.S. customers, crypto playing cards mix a standard card transaction with a stablecoin issued and managed below a growing federal framework. The GENIUS Act, signed into regulation in July 2025, established federal requirements for cost stablecoin issuers, together with necessities tied to reserves, redemption, and supervision.
In February, the Workplace of the Comptroller of the Forex proposed guidelines to implement components of the regulation. The OCC stablecoin proposal coated reserve composition, liquidity, redemption procedures, capital remedy, and federal oversight of permitted issuers.
Visa has continued to construct providers round a number of stablecoins fairly than committing its cost community to 1 token. Through the firm’s July 28 earnings name, CEO Ryan McInerney described its technique as “multi-coin, multi-chain” and mentioned Visa’s position was “to not decide winners.”
The cardboard firm additionally helps Open USD, a deliberate stablecoin backed by a consortium of greater than 140 corporations, whereas sustaining connections with present tokens and settlement merchandise. Visa launched a platform in July that provides banks, fintech corporations, and crypto companies entry to stablecoin minting, burning, storage, and switch instruments.
Earlier in 2026, Visa and Stripe-owned Bridge introduced plans to supply stablecoin-backed playing cards in additional than 100 nations by the top of the yr. Their program permits prospects to spend stablecoin balances at greater than 175 million Visa service provider areas, with Lead Financial institution supporting on-chain settlement for the playing cards.
