Crypto Card Spending Tops $1 Billion As Stablecoins Gain Ground

NEW YORK — Cryptocurrency card spending has more than tripled over the past year, topping $1 billion in July as stablecoins increasingly move beyond investment and cross-border transfers into everyday purchases, according to CoinDesk.

Crypto card spending reached $1.04 billion during the month, with dollar-backed stablecoins accounting for 70% of more than 10 million tracked transactions, CoinDesk reported, citing Paymentscan data. USDC represented about half of the volume, while Tether’s USDT accounted for 20.3%, up from approximately 48% and 7%, respectively, a year earlier.

“The real measure of crypto’s progress is not simply how many people own digital assets, but how useful those assets become in everyday life,” Thomas Gregory, vice president of payments and fiat at Binance, told CoinDesk. “Stablecoin-funded cards are one example of how digital assets are becoming more deeply embedded in everyday life, giving users greater flexibility in how they spend, move and access their money.”

Crypto cards allow consumers to spend stablecoins and other digital assets over existing payment networks without merchants having to accept cryptocurrency directly, with balances converted at checkout into local currency. CoinDesk noted that means stablecoins are not replacing Visa and Mastercard at checkout but are becoming another funding source for cards operating on those networks.

Separately, PYMNTS Intelligence found more than three-quarters of consumers would open a crypto or stablecoin wallet through an existing bank or fintech app, suggesting traditional financial providers could play a larger role as digital assets become more widely used for payments.