Stablecoin cards enter ‘hyper growth’ mode as monthly spending hits record $1.17 billion

Stablecoin card spending is accelerating to record levels, but the payment rail remains a fraction of the traditional card market.Paymentscan tracked about $1.17 billion in spending through Sept. 30, already above August’s completed total and the highest monthly figure in its displayed series.Cuy Sheffield, head of Visa’s crypto unit, described stablecoin-linked cards as being in “hyper growth mode,” as issuers increasingly connect dollar-denominated tokens to existing card networks rather than wait for merchants to accept crypto directly.Notably, the growth has continued even without a corresponding increase in payment frequency. Paymentscan recorded 11.0 million transactions in September, down from 11.07 million in August, lifting the implied average transaction size to about $107.Active addresses also slipped to 283,761 from 287,634, though that measure is incomplete. Paymentscan counts addresses rather than individual users, and RedotPay, the market’s largest tracked program, does not report an active-address figure on the platform.That leaves September showing a market handling more money through fewer recorded payments, at least before the month closes.Base leads chain activi...