The monthly payment volume using cryptocurrency cards surged from $100 million at the beginning of 2023 to $1.5 billion by the end of 2025, according to a report by Artemis.

BREAKING: We just published the most comprehensive report on crypto cards in the industry.

Not because it’s a niche. But because it quietly became an $18B market.

In early 2023, crypto cards were doing ~$100M per month.
Today, they’re doing >$1.5B.

So we spent weeks digging… pic.twitter.com/gEsYU3jTlc

— Artemis (@artemis) January 15, 2026

On an annual basis, the market reached $18 billion, nearly matching the volume of direct P2P transfers in stablecoins ($19 billion).

Analysts have identified cards as a key driver for integrating digital assets into the real economy. They have enabled stablecoins to move beyond exchanges and become a convenient payment method.

The primary reason for the segment's rapid growth is that most businesses still do not accept cryptocurrency payments. Cards operate on the existing infrastructure of Visa and Mastercard, automatically converting stablecoins into fiat currency at the point of sale.

Visa leads in on-chain payment volume. Source: Artemis. 

Strategic Role 

For centralized exchanges and DeFi protocols, the issuance of crypto cards has become a tool for customer acquisition, although their economic models differ:

  • CEXs (e.g., Gemini, Coinbase) offer cashback in fiat or liquid cryptocurrency, incurring real costs that they cover through trading fees and interest income. A card may be unprofitable but effective for user retention;
  • Decentralized projects like Ether.fi reward users with native tokens, minimizing their marginal costs to zero. This allows them to offer higher cashback (averaging ~4.08% at Ether.fi compared to "up to 4%" at many CEXs).

For non-custodial services like MetaMask and Phantom, cards serve as a means of diversifying revenue. Their primary revenue model, based on swap fees, depends on market cycles, while these tools provide stable income through interchange fees and subscription charges.

The payment volume via MetaMask cards jumped 435% year-over-year. Source: Artemis. 

MetaMask and Phantom have launched their own stablecoins (mUSD and CASH) as a foundation for their cards, creating closed ecosystems. This provides them with two advantages:

  • additional margin (instead of Circle/Tether);
  • user retention (the stablecoin becomes a retention tool).

However, the success of these projects varies. The issuance volume of CASH from Phantom steadily grew throughout the quarter, reaching $100 million by year-end. In contrast, the dynamics of mUSD from MetaMask were the opposite: after peaking at $100 million in October, the asset's issuance dropped fourfold to $25 million.

Source: Artemis. 

Geography of Use 

Cryptocurrency cards are most popular in developing economies. The main drivers of their popularity are currency instability, inflation, and limited access to banking services. In such conditions, stablecoins become a tool for preserving value.

Analysts identified the leaders in the adoption of USDT and USDC as:

  1. India, which is the largest crypto market in the Asia-Pacific region by inflow volume — $338 billion. Due to high taxes (30%), the cryptocurrency sector has effectively been pushed offshore and into the shadows. Crypto cards have become a legal bridge between shadow liquidity and the real economy, integrating with the local popular payment system UPI.
  2. Argentina. Here, “stablecoins” serve as a digital equivalent of the dollar, protecting savings from devaluation. Locals actively use them for everyday transactions. Notably, Argentinians prefer USDC, viewing it as a more reliable and transparent asset compared to USDT.
Source: Artemis. 

In developed economies like the U.S. and EU countries, traditional payment systems operate effectively. Therefore, stablecoins do not address fundamental issues and are primarily used by:

  • technologically savvy users;
  • crypto investors;
  • freelancers and businesses;
  • companies dealing with digital assets.

Future Outlook 

Despite the growing opportunities for direct payments with stablecoins, crypto debit and credit cards will maintain a key role for years to come and continue to grow faster than the rest of the industry, according to Artemis.

Analysts highlighted three structural factors:

  1. Ready infrastructure. Card networks cover over 150 million merchant locations. Building a similar system for accepting stablecoins would require years and significant investments in integration with POS terminals, training merchants, and establishing a legal framework. Crypto cards instantly provide access to this ready network.
  2. Service and protection. Card networks offer consumers a suite of services that “stablecoins” by their nature do not provide: fraud protection and guarantees for refunds, unsecured consumer credit, loyalty programs, and additional insurance.
  3. Convenience for businesses. For merchants, especially in small and medium enterprises, it is easier to use familiar acquiring systems than to overhaul accounting and implement new payment gateways.

Experts predict a niche division. Crypto cards will remain the dominant tool for everyday spending (retail, restaurants, travel, subscriptions), where convenience, credit, protection, and rewards are essential. Direct payments in stablecoins will find widespread application in the B2B sector and cross-border payments for businesses. 

As a reminder, in October, the financial technology service Square from Block launched an integrated solution for payments in the first cryptocurrency.