According to an Allium report, spending on stablecoin-linked cards reached 10 times its year-earlier level in the first nine months of 2026, while purchases under $50 accounted for most of the increase in transaction volume.
According to the blockchain analytics company’s figures, spending made with stablecoin cards reached $3.9 billion through the end of September. 84% of the increase in card transactions came from small purchases under $50. This means small purchases, rather than high-value transactions, drove the growth.
Payments Grew While Supply Stagnated
Total payments made with stablecoins, crypto assets pegged to traditional currencies such as the dollar, rose 45% to $482 billion in the first nine months compared with the same period last year. The number of payments climbed 71%, surpassing 1 billion.
By contrast, the total value of stablecoins in circulation stood at approximately $305 billion at the end of September, up just 0.4% since the start of the year. The report indicates that existing stablecoins are changing hands more frequently for payments while new supply remains limited.
To calculate payment volume, Allium filters out exchange, decentralized finance, and automated trading activity. The company classified $2.4 trillion of the $97.9 trillion in raw transfers recorded through September as end-user activity, and derives its $482 billion payment estimate from this narrower group.
Payment Giants Connect Stablecoins to the Existing System
Mastercard announced its Global Money Platform in August with BVNK, a stablecoin infrastructure company it acquired. The platform brings together traditional currency accounts, stablecoin balances, currency conversions, card spending, and bank payments through a single connection. Nuvei and Marqeta are among the first companies to integrate the service.
Stripe and Plasma are working on cards that support eligible stablecoin balances, as well as dollars, euros, Brazilian reals, Mexican pesos, and Colombian pesos. The aim is to use the balance matching the purchase currency and reduce unnecessary currency conversions. Stripe’s expanded card infrastructure covers more than 30 countries.
Visa Direct’s stablecoin prefunding service has also entered commercial use through Inyo Global. Payment companies can fund cross-border payments in USDC without waiting for banks’ operating hours, while recipients can receive the money through traditional payment channels. We covered the details of this move in our report on Visa’s stablecoin service entering commercial use.
Despite 10-Fold Growth, Its Share Remains Small
The rapid growth in card spending is largely coming from a small starting volume. Allium’s second-quarter estimate shows that spending on stablecoin cards amounted to just 0.03% of Visa’s $4 trillion in payment volume during the same period.
According to Patrick Mollard, co-founder and CEO of Fipto, companies want to use traditional money and stablecoins in the same payment and cash management processes rather than operate a separate crypto infrastructure. The payment companies’ latest moves are also focused on connecting these two areas.
Not investment advice.