Global payment giants have been supporting the growth of the cryptocurrency sector for many years. This strategy involves issuing crypto cards, and Visa has seen explosive growth in the volume of these cards over the past year. Here’s an update.
Crypto Cards: A Success Story That Keeps Getting Stronger
The debate surrounding cryptocurrencies is evolving as their adoption grows, to the point where persistent questions about their monetary status have been definitively swept aside in favor of regulatory management of this coming wave—primarily to prepare for and safeguard the stability of global economies.
This is a reality that payment giants have been trying to embrace for many years, both to offer their innovative services in this sector and to ensure they retain a role in an ecosystem that can function without such intermediaries.
In this field, crypto cards have emerged as a major success, particularly since their issuance accelerated during the last bull market of 2020–2021 with the active support of global leaders Visa and Mastercard.
This trend has clearly not slowed down in 2025, according to a recent analysis published on the X network by the account @Alex—which specializes in research on digital currencies and payment data for the Dune Analytics website—showing that Visa has posted a 550% year-over-year increase.
Spending volume of crypto cards issued by Visa
Looking at the analytics data for 6 Visa crypto cards, we see rapid growth: from $14 million at the start of 2025 to $91 million (based on 6 cards) in December 2025, representing a 550% increase.
Alex
By comparison, Mastercard reported—for crypto cards from Metamask, Ready, Holyheld, Bitget Wallet, Exodus, and Kardpay—a total of $24.8 million for the month of December and an annual increase of 230%.
Cryptocurrencies Are Becoming Essential for Payments
More specifically, the analysis is based on spending volumes from six crypto cards issued by Visa on behalf of the Gnosis Pay, EtherFi Cash, CypherHQ, Avici Money, ExaApp, and Moonwell DeFi Card projects, incorporating officially confirmed data.
This highlights the “rapid adoption of crypto cards by users” for paying for everyday purchases, as well as “the strategic importance of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins for Visa’s global payment ecosystem.”
Crypto card spending volume
Indeed, the current boom in stablecoins—the vast majority of which track the value of the U.S. dollar—is clearly accelerating the adoption of cryptocurrencies in payment processes, to the point of raising growing concerns in jurisdictions such as the European Union and China.
It is important to note that most crypto cards rely on an automatic crypto-to-fiat conversion system at the time of payment, and that purchases made using them do not exempt users from capital gains tax.
