Visa-backed crypto cards exploded in consumer use last year, with on-chain trackers showing total net spend jumping 525% from January to December 2025. Spending climbed from $14.6 million in January to $91.3 million by year-end, according to data compiled from Dune Analytics and other on-chain sources. The surge is concentrated in a few winners. EtherFi’s Visa card drove the lion’s share of activity, accounting for $55.4 million of the total—roughly 60%—while runner-up Cypher recorded $20.5 million. The dataset follows six Visa-issued crypto cards run by blockchain projects: GnosisPay, Cypher, EtherFi, Avici Money, Exa App, and Moonwell. Rather than a single spike, the increase was steady month-to-month throughout 2025. Polygon researcher Alex (@obchakevich_ on X) highlighted the figures on January 4, arguing they show crypto cards are starting to gain real traction and that stablecoins and crypto rails are becoming meaningful to Visa’s global payments ecosystem. Why it matters - Real spending, not just experimentation: Analysts say the data suggests some cardholders are using crypto balances to pay for routine purchases instead of converting to fiat first—an important behavioral shift for real-world payments. - Stablecoins gaining strategic importance: Visa has been moving into the stablecoin space, launching initiatives and advisory work late in 2025 to help banks and partners build stablecoin and tokenized-money infrastructure. The rising card volumes could serve as a practical testbed for those efforts. Limits and caveats - Concentration: Growth is driven largely by a small set of cards, so these figures don’t yet signal mass adoption. - Barriers remain: Regulatory uncertainty, consumer protection concerns, and merchant acceptance continue to constrain broader usage. Bottom line Crypto-linked Visa cards are no longer just a niche experiment. While adoption isn’t yet widespread, measurable groups of users are using crypto for everyday transactions—and Visa’s stablecoin push suggests the payments giant is betting those patterns will scale. Featured image: Cebuana Lhuillier. Chart: TradingView. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news