USDC and USDT Now Own 84% of Crypto Card Spend as the Euro Retreats

Dollar-backed stablecoins have taken over crypto payment cards. USDC (USDC) and Tether (USDT) together account for roughly 84% of card spending. The split reverses a market that was dominated by euro tokens less than two years ago.

The shift coincided with a wave of new card programs and settlement chains. Over the same period, dollar stablecoins gained share while EURe and Gnosis Pay faded.

Crypto Card Spending Goes Dollar as Euro Crashes to 2%

Crypto payment cards let people spend stablecoins or crypto assets anywhere major card networks operate. The stablecoins convert to local currency at checkout, so merchants see an ordinary card transaction.

In early 2024, the euro-backed EURe accounted for about 88% of card volume. Most of that activity ran through Gnosis.

However, that share has now fallen to roughly 2%, according toa16z crypto’s latest report. The growth of dollar-backed stablecoins has almost entirely pulled spending away from euro rails.

USDC now handles about 58% of card spending and USDT about 26%. A year ago, those figures were near 48% and 7%, respectively.

“Crypto payment card spending now happens overwhelmingly in digital dollars,” the report read.

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Card Spending Climbs Past $759 Million a Month

Meanwhile, the data shows that monthly crypto card volume reached $759 million in July. That marks a 2.5x jump from $306 million a year earlier.

When tracking began in October 2023, monthly volume sat below $1 million. Cardholders made nearly 9 million purchases in July, up from about 5.2 million a year ago.

The average purchase came to about $86. Settlement has also spread across blockchains as more programs have been launched.

Optimism (OP) now carries about 29% of card volume. Solana (SOL) and Base each hold near 19%, while Gnosis has dropped to roughly 2%.

Nearly all tracked spending still moves through Visa. However, the largest program by volume, RedotPay, self-reports its figures. It does not settle onchain with any certainty, which adds some uncertainty to the totals.

Even so, crypto card spending remains small compared to traditional networks, which process trillions of dollars each month.

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