Cryptocurrencies are increasingly moving from investment portfolios into everyday life. This is confirmed by data from the field of crypto payment cards, which have seen a sharp increase in use in recent weeks. Since December 2024, the daily number of transactions has increased twenty-twofold—from the original thousands to nearly 60,000 payments per day in mid-January 2026.
This is a clear signal that the crypto world is approaching ordinary consumers faster than it seemed not so long ago.
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How crypto cards work
The principle is simple – at the moment of purchase, the card automatically converts the cryptocurrency into regular currency. Users can thus pay with Bitcoin, Ethereum, or other digital assets at any store that accepts Visa or Mastercard cards – without having to sell their cryptocurrencies on an exchange and send the money to a bank account first.
Instead of a complicated “off-ramp” via centralized exchanges, people can spend their cryptocurrencies directly. Digital assets remain in their possession until the moment of payment, which is in line with the original spirit of crypto – to have control over one’s own assets.
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Millions of dollars a day
The growing activity is also reflected in the volume of money. Nearly $4 million is turned over daily through these cards. The biggest player is currently the Etherfi project, which handles about half of all transactions. However, other providers such as Gnosis, Metamask, and Solayer are also active in the market, and competition is rapidly intensifying.
Crypto cards are thus gradually becoming a separate segment of the financial market that can no longer be overlooked.
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Earnings and spending in one
The card issuers themselves are still looking for the optimal business model. Fees, rewards, and incentive programs vary significantly between individual cards. Many of them attract users with returns generated using DeFi protocols, such as on-chain loans.
Cardholders can thus earn money on their balance while still being able to spend their funds at any time.
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Visa and Mastercard as a bridge to the world of crypto
An interesting aspect of this trend is the role of traditional payment giants. The vast majority of crypto cards today run on the Visa and Mastercard infrastructure. These established networks have thus built a strong position in the digital asset environment and have become a key bridge between the world of decentralized finance and everyday commerce.
It turns out that it is the traditional payment infrastructure that plays a crucial role in bringing crypto out of the technology bubble and into the hands of ordinary people.
A step towards the mainstream use of cryptocurrencies
The rapid growth in the number of transactions suggests that crypto payment cards may be one of the first truly mass-market ways for cryptocurrencies to penetrate the everyday economy. Not just as a speculative asset, but as a real payment tool.
Sources:
https://www.theblock.co/data/on-chain-metrics/flows/crypto-cards-daily-transactions
