Monthly spending through stablecoin-linked cards reached a record $788.9 million in September, marking another new high for a segment that has continued to set records over the past two years.
The increase is particularly notable against the longer-term growth in stablecoin card activity. Since early 2025, monthly spending has risen from roughly $16 million to $789 million, representing an increase of nearly 49x. Frank Chaparro, an executive at market maker GSR, described the trend as evidence that stablecoins are increasingly moving beyond trading and settlement toward everyday payments.
The composition of that spending also highlights a growing divide between the two largest dollar-backed stablecoins in the card segment. USDC recorded $423 million in stablecoin card volume in September, compared with $135 million for USDT. Based on the figures provided, USDC accounted for roughly 57% of the segment, giving Circle's stablecoin a substantial lead in consumer card usage.
USDT's position in stablecoin cards has shifted considerably over the past two years. Its market share reportedly increased from almost zero to 49% by January 2026 before declining to 17% later in 2026. The source links this period with the end of the MiCA transition window and notes that platforms including Revolut delisted USDT over compliance considerations, although it is not clear whether those developments directly caused the decline in card market share.
The contrast becomes clearer when card spending is compared with overall stablecoin activity. Despite USDC's lead in card-based payments, USDT remained dominant in total stablecoin transfer activity in September. Visa data cited in the report put USDT's transfer volume at $182 billion, representing 84% of the market, while USDC recorded $32.6 billion, or 15%.
The divergence suggests that stablecoins are developing different areas of market strength. USDC appears to have gained significant traction across regulated fintech and consumer payment infrastructure, while USDT remains deeply established in broader stablecoin activity, particularly in emerging markets where dollar-denominated assets can be used for savings, inflation protection and cross-border transfers.
That creates a more segmented stablecoin market rather than a straightforward competition for a single form of usage. Card spending measures consumer payment adoption, while overall transfer volumes capture a much broader set of use cases. As a result, USDC's lead in card activity does not translate into overall stablecoin dominance.
The rapid expansion of stablecoin cards also introduces an infrastructure concentration risk. The report identifies Rain as the largest infrastructure provider powering stablecoin cards as of September. A high degree of dependence on a single infrastructure provider could create broader disruption if a technical failure, security incident or exploit affects the underlying system.
The report points to the recent $500,000 Avici neobank exploit involving Rain as an example of the type of risk that can extend beyond an individual platform when multiple users or financial products depend on the same infrastructure layer.
For the stablecoin card market, the next focus is therefore not only whether spending continues to expand, but also whether the underlying payment infrastructure can scale securely alongside adoption. At the same time, the widening gap between USDC and USDT in card usage will provide an important measure of how regulated consumer payment rails are shaping stablecoin competition.
