An industry leader said stablecoin-powered cards are shaping up to be one of the biggest crypto themes of 2026, which seek to provide the benefits of blockchain while keeping the payment experience familiar for consumers.
“This is one of the big themes of 2026: crypto becomes enmeshed more deeply into how payments flow through the global economy,“ Haseeb Qureshi, a managing partner at crypto-focused venture capital firm Dragonfly, posted to X Friday.
“Stablecoin cards are growing like crazy, everywhere in the world,” the VC added after stablecoin startup Rain raised $250 million in a funding round that pushed its valuation to nearly $2 billion.
The huge funding round came as Rain increased its active card base 30-fold and its annualized payment volume by nearly 40 times in 2025, making it one of the fastest-growing fintech companies globally.
The platform supports major stablecoins, including Tether (USDT) and USDC (USDC), across several blockchain networks, including Ethereum, Solana, Tron, and Stellar.
Rain is part of a new wave of stablecoin startups integrating blockchain into payment systems for faster settlement, lower costs, and greater global reach while keeping the experience seamless for consumers, Qureshi noted:
“They don’t even know that it’s crypto under the hood. All they know is that all of a sudden, they can pay people and buy stuff in dollars, any time, anywhere, and it all ‘just works.’”
It comes as Bloomberg Intelligence predicted on Thursday that stablecoin payment flows would increase at an 81% Compounded Annual Growth Rate to $56.6 trillion by 2030.
Stablecoin cards may face limited use in developed markets
Not everyone is convinced that stablecoin payments will challenge traditional cards in developed countries, however, with Better Tomorrow Ventures GP, Sheel Mohnot, stating that stablecoin merchant acceptance lacks a captive audience, exclusivity, and killer incentives to make a meaningful change.
Related: Banks must upgrade their blockchain infrastructure
Pantera Capital investor Mason Nystrom opposed Mohnot’s view, highlighting that stablecoin payments provide merchants with instant payouts, immediate settlement, and chargeback protection:
“Stablecoin rails are coming for the entire fintech stack. Some incumbents will adopt, other[s] will be wholesale replaced. Stablecoin checkout will be massive.”
Stablecoin regulation is moving forward
The passing of the GENIUS Act in the US appeared to boost regulatory momentum late last year, with Canada and the UK renewing efforts to implement stablecoin frameworks in 2026 or the near future.
Institutional adoption is also ramping up, with remittance platform Western Union set to launch a stablecoin settlement system on the Solana blockchain in the first half of 2026 alongside a stablecoin card to enable consumer spending in emerging markets.
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