Stablecoins used for $750M in monthly card payments

Crypto card purchases using stablecoins exceeded $750 million in monthly spending, according to an analysis by venture firm a16z. At checkout, card providers convert users’ stablecoins into the merchant’s local fiat currency.

Until recently many stablecoin holders sold tokens on exchanges and deposited cash into banks before spending. Card programs now let users pay directly from stablecoin balances while payment processors handle the conversion. Some programs require users to deposit stablecoins with the card issuer; others allow balances to remain onchain under self-custody.

Merchants receive standard fiat payments and do not hold crypto on their balance sheets. The cards let stablecoin holders make purchases in local currency without a traditional bank account, extending access to dollar-denominated payments for users in other countries.

On-chain analytics recorded $4.8 trillion in stablecoin transaction volume over the past 30 days. Data from 2026 show Circle’s USDC surpassing Tether’s USDT in market position.

Measures that compare stablecoin liquidity to Bitcoin’s market value have shifted. The Stablecoin Supply Ratio RSI recovered from 2026 lows but has not reached the high readings that preceded earlier sell signals. High SSR RSI readings earlier in the year and during the May-June rally coincided with red sell signals followed by sharp Bitcoin corrections. Later in the year, lower SSR RSI readings coincided with a sequence of green buy signals as Bitcoin traded in the $60,000 to $70,000 range.

The aggregation of many small card transactions contributed to the recent monthly spending total. Payment networks and card issuers manage conversion and settlement, which determines where balances are held and how transactions clear.

a16z wrote that ‘Crypto cardholders don’t require a traditional bank account’ and described cards as a convenient way for stablecoin holders to transact.

Stablecoins are digital tokens typically pegged to a fiat currency, most often the U.S. dollar, and are designed to limit price swings. They are used for payments, remittances and trading; growing card-linked spending has added a point-of-sale use case.