Stablecoin usage jumps as crypto payment cards surpass $10 billion in spend

Crypto‑linked payment cards have recorded more than $10.6 billion in cumulative on‑chain spending, covering roughly 25.3 million transactions from 1.7 million active addresses between March 2023 and July 2026. Growth accelerated sharply after September 2025, with monthly top‑up volumes rising from about $400 million to nearly $900 million within ten months. The activity is concentrated among a few issuers, notably RedotPay, and is driven largely by dollar‑pegged stablecoins such as USDT and USDC.

A senior Coinbase executive projects that stablecoin transfer volumes will overtake traditional fiat payments by around 2031. Stablecoin‑adjusted volumes hit $719 billion in December 2024, lifting the annual total to $27.6 trillion—already exceeding Visa and Mastercard combined by over 7%. Coinbase’s Base network processed 62% of global stablecoin transactions in Q1 2026, with ten‑fold year‑over‑year growth. Forecasts suggest the stablecoin market cap could reach $1.2 trillion by 2028, indicating a rapid shift toward stablecoins as everyday payment instruments.