Stablecoin cards let people spend digital dollars anywhere regular cards are accepted.
A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency designed to match a fiat currency like the U.S. dollar. A stablecoin card connects a person’s stablecoin balance to a card that runs on a card network, like Visa or Mastercard.
To the store, it looks like any other card payment.
How stablecoin cards work
The store never has to handle crypto, and the experience feels the same as tapping a regular card.
Why stablecoin cards?
Stablecoins move easily between wallets, but most stores can’t accept them directly. Stablecoin cards fill that gap.
Stablecoin cards also let people hold digital dollars until they need to spend. In countries where the local currency may lose value, people can save in stablecoins built to match the U.S. dollar. Before, spending those savings meant converting them to local currency and moving the money to a bank first. With a stablecoin card, the balance stays onchain, in digital dollars, until the moment of purchase.
A company can also pay workers abroad in stablecoins, and those workers can spend the balance with a card.
The bigger picture
As card networks add support for settling payments with stablecoins behind the scenes, stablecoin cards are one example of crypto plugging into the payment systems already in use today.
