TL;DR:
- Stablecoin card spending reached a record $1.17 billion in September, even as transaction count slipped from August, lifting the average purchase to about $107.
- PaymentScan’s onchain data showed Base leading September activity with $216.8 million, while RedotPay remained the largest tracked card program with $401.9 million over 30 days.
- Visa’s stablecoin card footprint highlights rapid adoption, but issuers still face the challenge of converting payment volume into durable financial relationships.
Stablecoin-linked cards are moving into everyday payments as monthly spending reached a record $1.17 billion in September, according to PaymentScan data. The milestone surpassed August’s completed total even though transaction activity did not accelerate at the same pace. PaymentScan tracked 11.0 million transactions, slightly below 11.07 million in August, implying an average purchase of $107. More value is flowing through stablecoin cards even as the number of recorded payments edges lower, suggesting larger purchases are helping drive the record.
Stablecoin Cards Push Into Mainstream Payment Rails
The expansion is visible across blockchain infrastructure. PaymentScan’s onchain-only data showed $788.9 million in September spending, with Base leading at $216.8 million, or 27.5% of the total. Optimism followed with $127 million, while Solana processed $109.3 million. Stablecoin card activity is spreading across several major networks rather than relying on a single settlement layer, reinforcing the shift toward stablecoin payment infrastructure connected with existing card rails.
At the program level, RedotPay remained the largest tracked provider, recording $401.9 million in spending over the latest 30-day period. EtherFi followed with $127.4 million, while KAST reached $113.1 million. Karta and Wirex One completed the top five with $48.7 million and $46.9 million, respectively. The market remains concentrated among a handful of card programs, but growth rates vary sharply between providers, highlighting a competitive landscape where scale and customer retention increasingly matter.
The record also arrives as established payment networks deepen their involvement with stablecoins. Visa has said more than 160 stablecoin-linked card programs were live on its network during its fiscal second quarter, while payment volume across those programs grew nearly 200% year over year. That expansion complements newer products such as stablecoin-backed Visa cards and multichain card infrastructure. Traditional payment networks are becoming the distribution layer that lets users spend stablecoins without requiring merchants to adopt crypto directly.
Despite the headline growth, stablecoin cards still represent a small share of global card payments. Active addresses tracked by PaymentScan slipped to 283,761 from 287,634, although the metric is incomplete because RedotPay does not report an active-address figure there. The next challenge is broader than processing more volume. Card issuers must turn rising stablecoin spending into durable everyday financial relationships, including recurring expenses and primary-account behavior, if adoption is to become a lasting payments category.
