TL;DR
- Daily crypto payment cards activity is nearing 60,000 transactions and $4M in volume processed daily, a 22-fold, 2,100% jump from late 2024 to mid-Jan 2026.
- Payment Cards convert digital assets to fiat instantly at purchase, so merchants stay on card rails and users avoid selling, transferring, and paying in separate steps.
- Etherfi handles half of transactions, with Gnosis, MetaMask, Solayer, Tria, and Holyheld competing; incentive and fee models vary, adding DeFi-sourced yield.
Crypto payment cards are seeing a sharp step-up in real-world usage, with daily activity nearing 60,000 transactions and about $4 million in processed volume. The headline signal is that card-based crypto spending has moved from niche experimentation to measurable throughput. Recent data put the surge from late-2024 levels to mid-January 2026 at a 22-fold increase in just over 13 months, or roughly 2,100%. In practice, that kind of growth suggests users are not just trying the product once, but repeatedly reaching for it at checkout, even as issuers keep tuning fees and incentives across programs.
How the payment cards work and who benefits
These payment cards work by letting users spend digital assets at any traditional merchant while the card program converts the value into fiat at the point of purchase. The critical design choice is that merchants get paid as usual while the crypto complexity stays behind the scenes. Because the conversion happens instantly, the merchant does not need to accept or custody digital assets, and the shopper experiences a normal card swipe. That architecture expands acceptance to existing card rails, turning crypto balances into purchasing power without asking retailers to change workflows or integrate new settlement systems.
For users, the value proposition is mainly operational. The practical win is that spending no longer requires a separate sell-and-withdraw cycle before you can pay for something. Instead of manually selling on an exchange, waiting for funds to move to a bank account, and then initiating a payment, the payment cards bundles those steps into one instant transaction. That reduction in friction helps explain why activity can climb even when broader crypto demand feels uneven, with buying interest appearing in bursts rather than as a smooth, broad-based trend across the market, as users test routine purchases.
Competition is heating up as issuers refine the economics behind these cards. The market narrative is that growth is real, but providers are still iterating on how to share fees and keep users engaged. In the current landscape, Etherfi is the clear leader, handling around half of all crypto-card transactions, while Gnosis, MetaMask, Solayer, Tria, Holyheld, and other emerging players chase share. Incentive structures and fee agreements vary widely, and many cards add yield components sourced from DeFi lending protocols and other on-chain mechanisms, a lever that can boost adoption while strategies mature.
