USDC and USDT Dominate Crypto Card Spending

Dollar-backed stablecoins have become the dominant payment method for crypto cards, with USD Coin (USDC) and Tether (USDT) accounting for roughly 84% of total card spending. The surge marks a dramatic reversal from early 2024, when euro-denominated stablecoins controlled most of the market.

Crypto payment cards allow consumers to spend stablecoins and other digital assets at merchants that accept major card networks. The underlying crypto is converted into local currency during payment, meaning merchants generally process the purchase like a conventional card transaction.

In early 2024, euro-backed EURe represented approximately 88% of tracked crypto card volume, with much of the activity occurring through Gnosis. Its share has since collapsed to around 2%, according to data highlighted by a16z crypto.

USDC has emerged as the clear leader, representing approximately 58% of crypto card spending, while USDT accounts for another 26%. A year earlier, their respective shares stood at roughly 48% and 7%. The figures show that crypto card payments are increasingly centered on digital dollars as new card programs and blockchain settlement options expand.

Overall crypto card activity is also growing rapidly. Monthly spending reached approximately $759 million in July, compared with $306 million a year earlier, representing an increase of about 2.5 times. Monthly volume was below $1 million when tracking began in October 2023.

Transaction numbers have climbed alongside spending. Nearly 9 million crypto card purchases were recorded in July, up from approximately 5.2 million a year earlier. The average transaction was worth about $86.

Blockchain market share has shifted as well. Optimism now processes approximately 29% of tracked card volume, while Solana and Base each account for around 19%. Gnosis, once a major settlement network for crypto cards, has fallen to roughly 2%.

Visa continues to handle nearly all tracked crypto card spending. However, figures from RedotPay, the largest program by volume, are self-reported and cannot be reliably verified through on-chain settlement data.

Despite strong growth, crypto card payments remain a small segment of the global payments industry, where traditional networks process trillions of dollars in transactions every month.