Stablecoin Card Spending Hits Record $789M in September

Monthly spending on stablecoin-linked cards reached a record $788.9 million in September. USDC-based cards accounted for $423 million, while USDT cards totaled $135 million.

Stablecoin card volumes have risen sharply since early 2025, increasing roughly 49-fold from about $16 million to about $789 million. The market set new monthly records repeatedly over the past two years.

USDC held about 54% of stablecoin card volume in September. USDT’s $135 million represented a smaller share of card spending that month.

Payment network transfer and settlement data show a different pattern. USDT recorded roughly $182 billion in transfer volume in September, about an 84% share of global stablecoin transfers. USDC transfer activity was about $32.6 billion, near a 15% share.

Regulatory and platform changes have affected availability and usage. The MiCA transition window closed in 2026, and some platforms removed USDT from their offerings for non-compliance with new rules. USDT’s share of card activity rose from nearly zero to about 49% in January 2026, then declined to roughly 17% through the rest of 2026.

Infrastructure for card programs is concentrated. A single provider, Rain, powers a large share of stablecoin card backend services. Earlier this year a Rain-powered neobank, Avici, suffered a $500,000 exploit.

Frank Chaparro, an executive at market maker GSR, remarked, “Stablecoins are increasingly moving beyond trading and settlement into everyday payments. Wow.”

Data for September show USDC leading card spending while USDT leads overall transfer volume.