Stablecoin card spending hits $18B annualized, Nium launches dual-network card platform, X tests Visa debit card
2026-03-28
Crypto card spending now exceeds $18 billion on an annualized basis, nearly matching peer-to-peer stablecoin transfers at $19 billion. In Southeast Asia, StraitsX reported a 40x surge in transaction volume and 83x increase in card issuance between 2024 and 2025. RedotPay alone processed over $2.95 billion in card volume in 2025. The ‘invisible stablecoin’ thesis — where users don’t know they’re using crypto — is playing out fastest in Asia.
Source: CoinDesk Related: RedotPay.
San Francisco-based Nium launched the first enterprise platform to span both Visa and Mastercard simultaneously for stablecoin-funded card programs. Businesses can issue spending cards on both networks through a single API, cutting time-to-market from months to days. The platform manages cross-border settlement and network compliance in a single layer — a significant infrastructure step toward mainstream stablecoin card issuance.
X is developing a payments product integrating peer-to-peer payments, wallet services, and a Visa debit card tied to user accounts. Currently in limited external testing, the product offers annualized yields of up to 6% on cash balances. If launched at scale, it could bring crypto-adjacent card features to X’s 500M+ user base — a major potential disruption to the crypto card market.
Market Context: Stablecoin card spending crossing the $18B annualized mark is a milestone. Cards remain the primary way to spend stablecoins because they run on existing Visa and Mastercard rails and require zero new merchant integrations. The ‘invisible stablecoin’ thesis — where users don’t even know they’re using crypto — is playing out fastest in Southeast Asia, where StraitsX’s Thai QR-code payments and Solana expansion are paving the way.