Sourced stablecoin card statistics for 2026: Visa volume and programs, monthly onchain spend, average ticket, chain and token mix, and incidents.
Stablecoin cards processed about $5.2 billion on Visa in 2025, up 319% year over year, yet that was only 0.04% of Visa's $14.2 trillion volume. In 2026 the pace kept rising: a16z crypto counted $759 million of card spend in July, and Paymentscan's broader onchain view reached $1.224 billion in September 2026.
Card numbers get mixed up even more than general stablecoin numbers. Trackers cover different programs, some count top-ups and settlements, and settlement run rates get quoted as spend. This report keeps each figure next to its source, date, and scope. It is refreshed quarterly; the change log is at the end. For how the cards work, start with what stablecoin card issuing is.
Key takeaways
Five numbers summarize the market. Each comes from a different source with a different scope, so they should be quoted separately, never added.
| Metric | Value | Source and date | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 card volume | About $5.2 billion, up 319% YoY | Visa, March 31, 2026 | Visa stablecoin-linked cards, full year |
| Share of Visa volume | About 0.04% of $14.2 trillion | Visa, March 31, 2026 | Visa global volume |
| Programs | 130+ in 50+ countries | Visa, March 31, 2026 | Visa programs |
| Monthly card spend | $759 million in July 2026, about 2.5x from $306 million | a16z crypto, August 7, 2026 | Onchain spend tracked by Paymentscan |
| Monthly onchain card activity | $1.224 billion in September 2026 | Paymentscan | Mixed view, 29 listed programs |
| Measured spend, 11 programs | $305.6 million in August 2026 | SpendNode, September 2, 2026 | Mapped programs only |
Definition: stablecoin-linked card. A payment card whose balance is held in a stablecoin such as USDC or USDT. The card network authorizes in fiat, the program converts the stablecoins, and the merchant is paid in local currency.
Fast, from a small base. Visa's 2025 volume grew 319%, and a16z crypto's July 2026 spend was about 2.5 times the $306 million a year earlier.
Month by month, Paymentscan's default view rose from $1.038 billion in July to $1.116 billion in August and $1.224 billion in September 2026, about 18% over two months. CoinDesk reported on crypto card spending topping $1 billion in a month on August 23, 2026.
SpendNode measured $305.6 million in August and $347.1 million in September 2026. Its coverage can change between months, so treat month-on-month changes there with care.
The share is still tiny. At 0.04% of Visa's volume in 2025, stablecoin cards are a fast-growing niche, not yet a mainstream payment method.
More than 130 on Visa alone, per Visa's March 2026 update, in more than 50 countries. Visa said it expects the number of programs to roughly double in 2026. That forecast is about program count, not volume.
Onchain trackers see fewer. Paymentscan lists 29 card programs. The difference is coverage: a tracker can only count programs whose wallets and contracts it can identify onchain, and some programs report off-chain data themselves.
Program counts also hide concentration. In SpendNode's August 2026 data, two programs, ether.fi and KAST, supplied $214.3 million of the $305.6 million measured, or 70.1%. SpendNode notes that adding programs to its coverage can change that ratio materially.
Small and frequent. a16z crypto counted nearly 9 million purchases a month with an average of about $86, based on Paymentscan data for mid-2026.
That ticket size points to everyday spending rather than large purchases. It also explains why fees matter so much: a fixed per-transaction charge weighs heavily on an $86 purchase. Stablecoin card fees explained breaks down spread, FX markup, and ATM costs.
Optimism, Solana, and Base carry most of it, and dollar stablecoins dominate. The figures below are from a16z crypto's August 7, 2026 analysis of Paymentscan data.
| Breakdown | Share of card volume |
|---|---|
| Optimism | About 29% |
| Solana | About 19% |
| Base | About 19% |
| Gnosis | About 2% |
| USDC | About 58% |
| USDT | About 26% |
| EURe | About 2%, down from about 88% in early 2024 |
The token shift is the bigger story. Early card programs ran largely on the euro stablecoin EURe. By mid-2026, dollar stablecoins carried most of the volume. Which stablecoin is best for card spending compares the options.
Both networks now settle with some partners in stablecoins, and Mastercard bought a stablecoin infrastructure company. Settlement figures measure money moving between the network and its partners, not card spend.
| Date | Network | Event |
|---|---|---|
| April 30, 2025 | Visa | Visa and Bridge announce stablecoin card issuing, starting in six Latin American countries |
| December 16, 2025 | Visa | USDC settlement in the US; $3.5 billion annualized run rate as of November 30, 2025 |
| April 29, 2026 | Visa | $7 billion annualized settlement run rate, up 50% in a quarter, nine blockchains |
| August 3, 2026 | Mastercard | Completes acquisition of BVNK |
| August 2026 | Mastercard | INFINIOS says it is the first issuer in Bahrain to settle with Mastercard in stablecoins |
Visa and Mastercard stablecoin settlement explained covers the two settlement models.
Two incidents stand out, and both ended with users made whole. They show that shared smart contract infrastructure can affect several programs at once.
Neither incident means every program on the same provider was exposed. Are stablecoin cards safe? covers the risk categories in full.
Because each source measures a different slice. The July 2026 numbers show it clearly: a16z crypto reported $759 million while Paymentscan's default view showed $1.038 billion for the same month.
Methodology notes for readers and journalists:
Quote one source per number, with its date and scope.
Watch four things through the end of 2026:
Every number above measures spending. Before a card can spend, stablecoins have to arrive, and many users also need part of their money in a local bank account. That is the payout and collection leg, and it sits outside every card statistic in this report.
BlindPay runs that leg. It converts USDC and USDT into local currency over Pix, SPEI, ACH, RTP, SEPA, and SWIFT (POBO/COBO), collects bank deposits into US virtual accounts that settle as stablecoins, and runs KYC, KYB, and sanctions screening in the same API flow, with no pre-funding. Card issuing stays with the card program.
Fundamentals:
Fees, tax, safety, and use cases:
Regions and regulation:
Business and builders:
If you are building the money movement around a card program, test the payout side on a free development instance with the payout quickstart.
The five risks of a stablecoin card: peg, program failure, custody, smart contracts, and fraud, with the August 2026 incident and a safety checklist.
Stablecoin payments are as safe as the issuer, the network, the provider, and your own controls. The seven risks to check, with real incidents and fixes.
Five stablecoin APIs compared for cross-border payments: primary use case, pre-funding requirement, payout regions, and developer experience, plus how to choose by buyer scenario.