Crypto card sector expands with over 250 projects as monthly spending nears $760M

The crypto card market has crossed a threshold that would have seemed ambitious just a few years ago. Monthly spending volumes hit $759 million in July 2026, according to data from Paymentscan cited by a16z crypto. That figure represents more than a doubling compared to the $306 million recorded in the same month a year earlier. The sector also clocked $607 million in March 2026, meaning it compressed what looked like multi-year adoption into roughly four months. How the market actually works A user loads a card with crypto, usually a stablecoin, and the card network converts it to local currency at the point of sale. No separate off-ramp, no waiting, no explaining to the cashier what a blockchain is. Stablecoins are doing the heavy lifting here. USDC accounts for approximately 58% of tracked spending volume as of July 2026, with USDT contributing around 26%. Together, dollar-pegged assets represent the overwhelming majority of crypto card transactions. Companies like Verestro and ChainUp provide the card-issuance rails that let both custodial and non-custodial products go live without each issuer rebuilding the plumbing from scratch. On the consumer-facing side, the roster of issu...