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Several companies can earn value from one stablecoin-card purchase. The payment network handles authorization and settlement, while an issuer or program manager runs the card, a wallet and conversion provider supplies the funds, an acquirer settles with the merchant, and sometimes a financing provider funds the gap between daily network settlement and cardholder repayment. The merchant normally sees an ordinary Visa or Mastercard transaction. Public disclosures do not provide a transaction-by-transaction percentage split, so no credible answer can say that one participant captures a fixed share of every swipe.
What happens when you pay with a stablecoin card?
The blockchain is usually hidden from the merchant and cashier. The card program connects a wallet balance to a conventional card credential, then performs the crypto and fiat work behind the scenes.
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- Authorization: You present the card online or in a store. Visa or Mastercard routes a standard authorization request through its acceptance network.
- Balance and risk checks: The issuer or program manager checks the linked wallet, available stablecoin balance, spending controls, compliance status and fraud signals.
- Reservation and conversion: The program reserves the required stablecoins. Depending on the setup, it converts them to fiat before network settlement or keeps the transaction in a supported stablecoin until settlement.
- Network settlement: The card network settles with the relevant issuer, acquirer and other participants. The merchant receives the normal card authorization and, ultimately, a fiat payout unless its acquiring arrangement supports another form.
- Reconciliation: Wallet balances, conversion rates, fees, chargebacks and settlement receivables are reconciled after the purchase.
That familiar front end is why a stablecoin card can work at existing card-accepting merchants without asking each merchant to integrate a blockchain.
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The two settlement models
Traditional fiat-conversion settlement
In Visa’s traditional model, the program manager converts stablecoins to fiat before settling with Visa. The blockchain functions as a ledger for the wallet movement, while the final card settlement uses banking rails. This arrangement preserves the established card flow but requires a conversion step and access to banking and liquidity infrastructure.
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Direct settlement in a supported stablecoin
In Visa’s newer model, eligible Visa Principal Members settle directly with Visa in supported stablecoins such as USDC. Visa’s digital custodian then converts the stablecoin to fiat for merchant payouts. This can reduce an intermediary conversion step for qualified participants, but it is not available to every card program or in every market. The cardholder and merchant still experience a conventional card transaction.
Who can earn money from the swipe?
| Participant | What it provides | What is established publicly |
|---|---|---|
| Payment network | Authorization, acceptance, network rules, settlement and related services | Visa and Mastercard are expanding stablecoin-linked programs and merchant reach, but the reviewed disclosures do not state a stablecoin-card percentage per transaction. |
| Issuer or program manager | Card issuance or management, compliance, wallet connectivity, controls and customer servicing | These parties may receive economics negotiated with the network and partners. Their exact share is not published in the cited official material. |
| Acquirer and merchant-side provider | Merchant acceptance, routing, authorization support and merchant settlement | Stablecoin-card pricing for this layer is not disclosed in the reviewed sources. |
| Stablecoin, wallet and conversion providers | Custody or wallet access, on- and off-ramp services, balances and conversion | Specific revenue terms and spreads differ by program and are not publicly itemized. |
| Settlement-finance provider | Working capital while the program funds daily network settlement | Financiers can earn interest, but commercial rates and fee splits are not published. |
In ordinary card economics, merchant-side charges are divided among multiple parties. For stablecoin cards, the same broad stack exists, with additional wallet, conversion and liquidity functions. The official sources reviewed do not show a waterfall identifying the percentage paid to Visa or Mastercard, the issuer, the program manager, the acquirer, the stablecoin issuer or the wallet provider.
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How fast is the market growing?
Visa reported approximately $5.2 billion in stablecoin-linked-card volume during 2025, based on Visa’s 2025 data, and described that figure as 319% higher year over year in a 2026 article. As of March 2026, Visa said it had more than 130 programs across more than 50 countries.
Visa’s October 2026 release reported more than 160 programs, nearly 200% year-over-year payment-volume growth and approximately 17% of fiscal-year-2026 year-to-date stablecoin-linked-card volume in business and commercial programs. The same Visa material cited an annualized stablecoin settlement run rate above $20 billion. These figures use different periods and measures, so the 319% 2025 growth rate should not be treated as the same metric as the later nearly-200% payment-volume figure.
Mastercard said in 2025 that its partners enabled stablecoin spending at more than 150 million merchant locations. Its roadmap includes card issuance, merchant settlement and cross-border flows. Mastercard Chief Product Officer Jorn Lambert summarized the approach: “We’re not just enabling stablecoin transactions — we’re helping to make them safe, compliant and built to last.”
Are stablecoin cards cheaper than regular cards?
Not automatically. A stablecoin card may avoid a separate bank-account transfer for the user, but that does not mean the card transaction has no cost. The total economics can include the card program’s disclosed fees, a stablecoin-to-fiat conversion spread, foreign-exchange costs, network and merchant-side charges, and the cost of rewards or other benefits. The amount and payer depend on the program, country, currency and settlement model.
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Because the official disclosures do not publish a complete fee waterfall, compare the actual card terms rather than assuming that direct stablecoin settlement is cheaper. A program with fewer visible fees can still embed cost in its conversion rate or exchange spread.
Six useful ways to compare programs
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Which settlement model is used? | Fiat conversion before settlement and direct settlement in a supported stablecoin have different liquidity, conversion and counterparty requirements. |
| Who controls the wallet and conversion? | Custody, conversion timing, quoted rates and recovery procedures determine how much control and visibility you have. |
| Where is the card accepted? | Network reach, country availability and merchant-category restrictions can matter more than a headline reward. |
| What protections apply? | Check fraud monitoring, dispute rights, chargebacks, account freezes and the treatment of an unauthorized transaction. |
| Does it support business use? | Treasury management, employee spending, payouts and cross-border payments may require controls that consumer cards do not provide. |
| Are fees and rewards transparent? | Look for conversion spreads, recurring fees, withdrawal charges, foreign-exchange treatment, reward funding and any limits. |
Why working capital is part of the business
A card program may have to fund the network’s daily settlement before it has collected or finalized the corresponding amount from cardholders. Visa describes early programs using financing for that timing gap. In one example, Rain uses a revolving facility from Credit Coop secured by settlement receivables. A provider of that facility can earn interest, although the facility’s commercial terms are not public in the cited material.
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This financing layer helps explain why the business is larger than a wallet simply sending tokens at checkout: the program must manage liquidity, settlement timing, compliance and card-network obligations.
What remains unknown
- No reviewed official source gives a transaction-level percentage split of the swipe fee.
- No reviewed source establishes that Visa or Mastercard receives a particular fixed amount from each stablecoin-card purchase.
- The sources do not show the exact economics negotiated between a network, issuer, program manager, acquirer, wallet provider and stablecoin issuer.
- There is no basis to claim that stablecoin cards eliminate card fees or that a stablecoin issuer captures all reserve or interchange income.
Bottom line
When you swipe a stablecoin card, the payment network, card operator, merchant-side providers, wallet and conversion infrastructure, and sometimes a settlement lender can all participate in the economics. The merchant usually gets a standard card experience, while the crypto work occurs behind the scenes. The market is growing rapidly, but the exact split of each transaction remains private; the only reliable way to judge a card’s cost is to inspect its published fees, conversion terms, protections and settlement model.
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