Crypto Payment Card Spending Reaches $759 Million in July, a16z Crypto Says

Crypto payment card spending jumped 2.5 times from a year earlier to $759 million in July, according to figures from a16z crypto reported on August 18, 2026, using data from Paymentscan. The dataset, which tracks payment activity linked to crypto card programs across several blockchains, recorded nearly 9 million purchases in the month, up from about 5.2 million a year earlier, for an average purchase value of roughly $86. Dollar-backed stablecoins dominated settlement: USDC handled about 58% of spending and USDT another 26%, together processing 84% of tracked volume. The monthly total has climbed from less than $1 million in October 2023, when Paymentscan began tracking the market.

Background

Paymentscan began tracking crypto card activity in October 2023, when monthly spending stood at less than $1 million. The market's early concentration was on Gnosis: a16z said EURe settled close to 88% of card spending in early 2024, much of it through Gnosis, and Gnosis Pay helped produce that initial concentration by introducing what a16z described as the first Visa card connected directly to a self-custodial wallet. As more issuers entered the market, settlement activity spread across networks offering different payment and wallet infrastructure. Crypto payment cards allow customers to hold stablecoins with a card provider or keep them in a supported self-custodial wallet, depending on the product; at checkout, the service converts the digital assets into the merchant's local fiat currency and sends the payment through an established card network. The Paymentscan dataset covers on-chain activity it can connect to individual card programs, although it handles its largest program differently: RedotPay, which generated the most volume among tracked issuers, self-reported its spending rather than having the transactions directly observed on-chain, a distinction a16z identified in its methodology. The figures correspond with separate Visa data showing USDC has taken a large share of payment-related stablecoin activity.

What happened

According to a16z crypto, citing Paymentscan data, crypto payment card spending reached $759 million in July, 2.5 times the level of a year earlier, supported by nearly 9 million purchases settled mainly through dollar-backed stablecoins. Purchase counts rose to nearly 9 million in July from about 5.2 million in the same month last year, producing an average purchase value of roughly $86. The monthly total has climbed from less than $1 million in October 2023, when Paymentscan began tracking the market, to more than three-quarters of a billion dollars. USDC handled about 58% of crypto card spending in July and USDT another 26%, according to Paymentscan; a year earlier their respective shares stood at approximately 48% and 7%, meaning USDT recorded the larger increase over the period. Together the two dollar-backed tokens processed 84% of tracked card volume in July. Euro-backed tokens lost their early lead: a16z said EURe settled close to 88% of card spending in early 2024, much of it through Gnosis, but its share had fallen to around 2% by July. Paymentscan showed USDC's share gained about 10 percentage points over the past year while USDT's rose by about 19 points. Optimism processed approximately 29% of tracked crypto card spending in July, ahead of Solana and Base, which each carried about 19%; Gnosis accounted for about 2%. Optimism and Base together processed nearly half of the measured volume. A16z noted that RedotPay, the largest tracked issuer by volume, self-reported its spending rather than having transactions directly observed on-chain.

Market impact

The Paymentscan figures show the composition of crypto card settlement shifting toward dollar-backed tokens and away from euro-backed ones. USDC's share of July card spending was about 58%, up roughly 10 percentage points over the year, while USDT's was about 26%, up about 19 points from approximately 7% a year earlier; together they processed 84% of tracked volume. EURe, which settled close to 88% of card spending in early 2024, had fallen to around 2% by July. On the network side, Optimism processed approximately 29% of tracked spending in July, ahead of Solana and Base at about 19% each, with Gnosis at about 2%; Optimism and Base together processed nearly half of the measured volume. The report also cites separate Visa data: in June, USDC processed about $1.21 trillion of the $1.79 trillion in adjusted stablecoin transfers recorded by Visa's on-chain analytics dashboard, while USDT handled approximately $576 billion. As crypto.news previously reported, adjusted transfer volume rose 63% from May and 125% from June 2025, even as the stablecoin market's total value declined by $7.7 billion. The sources do not provide token prices or card-spending figures for months other than those cited.

Why it matters

The sources support several consequences. First, the scale of card spending has moved from a niche to a measurable market: from less than $1 million in October 2023 to $759 million in July, with nearly 9 million purchases in the month. Second, the data shows dollar-backed stablecoins becoming the settlement layer for card payments, with USDC and USDT together handling 84% of tracked volume in July, while euro-backed EURe fell from close to 88% of spending in early 2024 to around 2%. Third, settlement has spread across networks: Optimism processed approximately 29% of tracked spending in July, ahead of Solana and Base at about 19% each, while Gnosis, the early main settlement chain, accounted for about 2%. The report ties Solana's share to payment providers releasing cards that use the network for stablecoin transactions, citing Solayer's May launch of a Visa card letting customers spend USDC from the Solana-based Solayer InfiniSVM network, following the opening of Visa and Bridge's stablecoin card program in 18 countries. A16z's methodology note also matters for interpretation: RedotPay, the largest tracked issuer by volume, self-reported its spending, making its numbers dependent on information supplied by the company.