Stablecoin Payments Are Growing. What Will It Take to Move Beyond Cards?

For years, much of the crypto conversation has focused on trading and investment. But stablecoins are opening up another possibility: using digital assets to pay for everyday goods and services. This shift matters because money is only useful if people can spend it easily. The challenge now is not simply creating more stablecoins, but making them practical for everyday payments.

The StraitsX and Visa partnership shows how existing payment networks can help bring stablecoins into everyday life. StraitsX’s stablecoin-backed card programmes have reached more than US$6 billion in annualised transaction value across Asia. The partnership will expand its card-issuing capabilities to more than 100 markets. This growth points to demand for ways to spend stablecoins beyond crypto platforms, without first having to navigate a separate payment system.

For now, card networks offer a practical way to make that possible. Customers can fund their cards with stablecoins and pay through Visa’s existing network, while merchants continue accepting card payments as usual. This removes a major hurdle: merchants do not need to install new payment terminals or manage digital assets themselves. Rather than asking consumers and businesses to change their habits overnight, this approach builds on infrastructure they already know and use.

However, using card networks also raises a bigger question: how far can stablecoin payments go without changing the underlying payment system? Card-based payments still carry legacy network friction—specifically the 1.5% to 3.5% interchange and merchant acquiring fees that traditional rails impose. While card-based stablecoin payments improve access and convenience, they do not automatically deliver the lower costs or simpler settlement that blockchain-based payments promise.

This does not make card partnerships a step backwards. They serve an important purpose by helping stablecoins reach more users while direct payment options continue to develop. Over time, businesses may increasingly explore ways to accept stablecoins directly, such as account-to-account (A2A) rails, native POS QR checkouts, or direct API gateway checkouts, allowing funds to move between customers and merchants without relying on a traditional card transaction for every purchase. But this shift will depend on whether direct payments can offer a clear advantage over existing methods, rather than simply a different way to pay.

For direct stablecoin payments to gain ground, the industry needs to show merchants why switching is worth the effort. Lower transaction costs, faster settlement and fewer payment disputes could make a strong case, particularly for large retailers processing high volumes of transactions. Yet these benefits must be weighed against the costs of integrating new systems, managing compliance and giving customers a payment experience they can trust. The strongest opportunity may lie with major retailers and platforms that can make a new payment method useful to large numbers of consumers.

Ultimately, the next phase of stablecoin adoption will depend on more than expanding infrastructure or issuing more cards. Card partnerships such as StraitsX and Visa are helping bring digital assets into everyday spending, but the longer-term opportunity is to make payments cheaper, faster and easier for everyone involved. The industry must prove these benefits in practice. When merchants have a clear financial reason to accept stablecoins and consumers have a simple reason to use them, direct blockchain payments will have a stronger chance of becoming part of everyday commerce.