Crypto Cards Are Growing 20× Faster Than Stablecoin Transfers: Here’s Why

• The crypto card market skyrocketed from $100 million monthly in 2023 to over $1.5 billion by late last year.
• Visa currently dominates the space by capturing 90% of on-chain card volume.
• Stablecoin cards are thriving where traditional money fails in regions like Argentina and India.

Stablecoin payments have entered a massive new growth phase. According to a recent report from Artemis, monthly volumes jumped from $1.9 billion in early 2023 to over $10 billion only recently. 

This surge comes from people in emerging markets looking for stability. Stablecoin payments via cards have also outperformed peer-to-peer transfers.

Moreover, while P2P growth stayed flat at about 5%, card volume compounded at 106% annually. And today, spending stablecoins at a store is just as common as sending them to a friend.

How Crypto Card Infrastructure Works

According to the Artemis report, the tech behind these cards has three main layers. The first layer is the payment networks, like Visa and Mastercard. 

These giants own the “rails” that connect millions of stores and Visa currently leads the pack. This happened because they partnered early with the tech companies that build these card programs.

Visa currently leads the pack in on-chain card volume | source: Artemis

Mastercard, on the other hand, takes a different path. They usually partner directly with big exchanges like Bybit and Gemini, which ties their success to how many people trade on those platforms. 

Both networks are fighting for the same users, but Visa’s infrastructure-first focus is winning more volume for now.

Why Full-Stack Issuance Matters

Companies like Rain and Reap are becoming Visa’s main members. This means that they don’t need a middleman bank to talk to Visa. 

Instead, they handle compliance and the money settlement themselves, and by doing so, they keep more of the fees.

Visa and other card issuers have an army of partners | source: Artemis

These platforms act as a “Card-as-a-Service” for other businesses. They make it easy for any company to launch a card, and as stablecoin payments become more common, these direct-settlement players will likely lead the market. 

This is likely to happen because they offer a faster, cheaper way to convert digital assets into real-world spending power.

The Place of Consumer Products

The third layer is what users see in their wallets. 

There are four main types of cards, and centralised exchange cards from Coinbase or Crypto.com are the most popular. They are easy to use because they link right to your trading account.

Then there are self-custodial cards like the MetaMask Card. These let users keep control of their money until the exact second they swipe at a checkout POS. 

Users of these cards do not have to trust an exchange with their funds; other options include crypto neobanks like Xapo and traditional fintechs like Revolut.

Where the Action Is

The stablecoin payments story is fascinating as well, in terms of geography.

India and Argentina are the biggest outliers. In India, people moved their crypto activity offshore due to high taxes, and this created a huge demand for compliant ways to spend.

Emerging markets are where most of the action is | source: Artemis

In Argentina, the local currency loses value quickly. Because of this, people use USDC to protect their savings. 

Since there isn’t a better digital payment system there, stablecoin cards have become a lifeline because they allow people to save in dollars and spend in pesos at the grocery store.

The Future of On-Chain Spending

The question now is, ‘Will stores ever accept stablecoins directly?’ 

Some big names like Stripe and PayPal are already working on it. Direct payments would be cheaper for stores, but cards have a huge head start, as there are over 150 million locations that accept Visa and Mastercard.

Moving every store to this new system would take decades and require new hardware and software. Still, the revolution has started, and the next few years will determine what happens next.

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