"Real-life payment penetration"... Digital asset card payments in Q3 up 33% from the previous quarter

[Mexico City = Shim Young-jae, Correspondent] The digital asset (virtual asset) card payment market is growing rapidly. In the third quarter of this year, card payment amounts reached $4.31 billion, a 33% increase from the previous quarter. With the expansion of stablecoin usage, USDC has emerged as a major growth driver in the payment market. Venture capital (VC) investments are also focusing on payment and financial services.

According to a report by Cryptopolitan on the 9th (local time), the digital asset card payment amount in the third quarter of this year was $4.31 billion, up 33% from $3.24 billion in the second quarter. The growth was driven by the support for new digital assets and the increased use of major stablecoins like Tether (USDT) and USDC. Notably, Tether's payment network, Plasma, saw a 350% increase in transaction volume during the same period.

Stablecoin payments and digital asset card usage have steadily expanded since 2024. Despite a general downturn in the digital asset market and a temporary bear market, payment demand has increased. Initially considered a new financial product, digital asset payment cards are gradually being utilized as a common means of consumption, according to Cryptopolitan.

By blockchain, Tron, the main liquidity network for USDT, has led the growth. Cryptopolitan presented a figure of 23.2% for Tron’s quarterly payment transaction volume. Nearly half of stablecoin card payments occurred on Tron, Base, and BNB Chain.

Ethereum remains the primary network for existing stablecoin payments. Solana (SOL) is seeing an increase in payment and digital asset usage alongside a rise in user addresses.

Traditional financial service companies are also increasing their use of stablecoins. Henri Stern, who oversees the digital asset and stablecoin division of Privy, acquired by payment company Stripe, recently announced plans to expand stablecoin-related tools for global adoption.

Financial services company Revolut has also expanded its supported assets by adding its euro-based stablecoin, EURR.

USDC surpasses USDT in card payments... September payment amount triples

In the stablecoin card payment market, the growth of USDC has been notable.

According to Cryptopolitan, the mandatory application of the European Union's Digital Asset Market Regulation (MiCAR) and the phased implementation of the US GENIUS Act are changing the structure of stablecoin usage.

In the past two years, USDC, a compliant stablecoin, has shown a trend of replacing USDT. This change has been particularly evident in the card payment market.

USDT still maintains an advantage in internal transactions within the digital asset market and peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions. Its remittance volume, supply, and holder size are all larger than those of USDC. However, in card payments, the compliance with regulations and transparency of reserve assets have led to an increase in USDC usage.

According to MacroMicro data cited by Cryptopolitan, the USDC card payment amount in September exceeded $439 million, more than three times that of USDT card payments during the same period.

The total supply of USDC is approximately $75 billion, of which $6.75 billion has been issued on the Solana network. USDC based on Solana is rapidly expanding its use in digital asset trading and decentralized finance (DeFi).

The payment utilization of stablecoins is increasing. According to Cryptopolitan, the adjusted stablecoin payment amount in September surpassed $54 billion.

In addition to payments, decentralized finance, decentralized exchange (DEX) transaction routing, and internal transactions within digital asset protocols are also cited as major use cases for stablecoins.

Demand arising from intermediaries, exchanges, and financial service providers reducing their USDT holdings is also being absorbed by USDC, according to Cryptopolitan.

VC investment shifts to payments and fintech... 71.6% of Q3 investment concentrated

The growth of the stablecoin payment market is also reflected in the digital asset venture investment market. According to investment tracking data from CryptoRank cited by Cryptopolitan, 71.6% of VC investment in the digital asset sector in the third quarter of 2026 was concentrated in payments, exchanges, and intermediaries.

During the same period, digital asset companies raised a total of $2.26 billion through 127 investment rounds.

The targets of investment have also changed. Funds that were previously focused on digital asset businesses targeting individual users, such as meme coins and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), have shifted to payment applications and financial technology sectors.

This year, the payment sector has expanded its scope while adapting to a new regulatory environment. Cryptopolitan explains that these changes have also influenced the allocation of venture investment funds.

However, overall investment activity in the third quarter decreased. Investment funds have been concentrated in companies like Crypto.com that have already established payment ecosystems.

In the last two quarters, payment projects have attracted a total of $1 billion in investment, making it the second-largest scale in the digital asset VC investment sector. The sector that attracted the most investment during the same period was the prediction market, securing a total of $2 billion.

Cryptopolitan mentioned that the increase in payment counts and fund transfer volumes indicates additional growth potential in the payment sector.

In the third quarter, digital asset card payment amounts expanded to $4.31 billion, and USDC significantly surpassed USDT in card payments. At the same time, the payment, exchange, and intermediary sectors accounted for 71.6% of total digital asset VC investment, indicating that payment services have emerged as a major investment target.

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