Author: Artemis
Compile: DeepTide TechFlow
The Tides of Depth:
Cryptocurrency payments are undergoing a quiet "power shift." According to Artemis's latest research, the crypto card market has surged from the fringes at the beginning of 2023 to a massive $18 billion annualized industry, with monthly transaction volumes increasing 15 times over just two years.
This article thoroughly dissects the three layers of the crypto payment stack and reveals a surprising figure: Visa accounts for over 90% of on-chain card transaction volumes. More importantly, the industry is undergoing a structural shift toward "full-stack issuance." Companies like Rain and Reap are bypassing traditional banks by directly connecting to Visa, completely rewriting the economic model. From crypto-collateralized credit in India to stablecoin-based daily payments in Argentina, crypto cards are becoming key infrastructure for digital dollars to enter the real world.
The full text is as follows:
Big news: We have just released the most comprehensive research report on crypto cards in the industry.
This is not because it is a niche market, but because it has quietly grown into a $18 billion market. At the beginning of 2023, the monthly transaction volume of crypto cards was only about $100 million. Today, this figure has exceeded $1.5 billion.
To do this, we spent several weeks deeply exploring the data, infrastructure, and the companies actually building this stack. Here are our key findings:
First, let's look at what actually happened. The encrypted cards are not meant to replace Visa or Mastercard, but to utilize them.
Stablecoins Fund the transaction, andCards provides a merchant acceptance environment.
This stack is divided into 3 levels:
- Network Layer (Networks): Visa, Mastercard
- Issuers and Program Managers: Baanx, Bridge, etc.
- Consumer Application Layer (Consumer Apps): Wallets, exchanges (such as MetaMask, Phantom)
This is exactly where the power struggle is most intense.
Although Visa and Mastercard each have over 130 cryptocurrency-related collaboration projects...
However, Visa dominates over 90% of on-chain card transaction volumes. The reason lies in its early establishment of deep partnerships with the infrastructure layer.
The biggest structural shift: full-stack issuers.
Companies like Rain and Reap can now issue cards and settle transactions directly as Visa Core Members (Visa Principal Members).
No Sponsor Bank. More Control. Higher Economic Efficiency.
Geographical distribution reveals real-world use cases. India: $338 billion in cryptocurrency inflows. The opportunity here is crypto-collateralized credit (as UPI has already dominated the debit payment space). Argentina: The practical application is stablecoin debit cards serving as a hedge against inflation.
In developed markets, encrypted cards do not address a "basic necessity."
Their target is a completely new, high-value user base: those who hold large stablecoin balances and are looking to spend them.
Our view is simple: stablecoins will continue to grow, and crypto cards will scale along with them.
They are the infrastructure that brings digital dollars into the real world.
This post is only a highlighted summary. Read the full content.Full ReportTo gain a deeper understanding.
