Digital Currency Card Spending Reaches New Milestone
Digital currency card transactions surpassed $1.04 billion in July, representing a three-fold increase year-over-year compared to $306 million recorded in July 2025. Data referenced by a16z from Paymentscan shows that the more than 10 million monitored transactions were largely driven by stablecoins.
Dollar-pegged stablecoins dominated activity during the month, with USDC capturing 50.8% of total volume and USDT contributing 20.3%. Together, the two stablecoins facilitated more than 70% of monitored payments.
The mean transaction value climbed to $86 in July, marking an increase from the $59 average recorded twelve months prior.
Platform Concentration and Market Leaders
Market activity remained concentrated among a few major platforms. RedotPay led with $395.1 million in aggregate volume, followed by EtherFi at $100.3 million and KAST at $89.6 million. These three providers collectively accounted for approximately 77% of all monitored payment activity in July.
RedotPay also reported that its registered user base surpassed 8 million users following a customer population expansion of over 33% across a six-month window. Meanwhile, the euro-backed EURe stablecoin saw its share of monitored card activity drop from 88% in early 2024 to under 2% by July.
Everyday Purchases Drive Expansion
Transaction category analyses point to a transition toward routine consumer expenditures, including ride-hailing services, food delivery platforms, grocery stores, restaurant dining, and digital subscriptions.
Emerging markets demonstrated robust uptake, with StraitsX recording gross transaction value growth of approximately 600% across lower-GDP territories between March 2025 and February 2026, compared to 150% expansion in higher-GDP markets. In Argentina, food-related spending accounted for 41% of all transactions, with USDT utilized in 72% of payments. Regional data from Oobit showed that Brazilian customers averaged $400 in spending across 20 monthly transactions, with grocery store purchases comprising 35% of that volume.
Crypto payment cards operate by converting stablecoin holdings at the point of sale, allowing merchants to receive traditional fiat currency and enabling stablecoins to integrate with existing payment networks.
