Stablecoin Card Spending Hits Record $789M in September

Stablecoin card spending reached a record high of $789 million in September, according to recent data. This marks a significant increase from the same period in 2024, with spending up 49 times from $16 million to $789 million. Frank Chaparro, an executive at market maker GSR, noted that stablecoins are increasingly being used for everyday payments, not just trading and settlement.

The stablecoin card volumes have been steadily increasing over the past two years, with Circle's USDC dominating the market share in September. USDC card volumes reached $423 million, a 57% market share, while Tether's USDT card volumes were at $135 million, a 17% market share. Despite USDT's dominance in global activity, with $182 billion in transfer volume and 84% market share, USDC has gained a strong foothold in regulated fintech and consumer rails.

The growing use of stablecoin cards for spending may also come with risks, as highlighted by the recent Rain-powered Avici neobank $500K exploit. This raises concerns about the potential for contagion risk in the stablecoin card segment, with Rain being the single largest infrastructure player powering the stablecoin cards.