Stripe Expands Stablecoin Cards to 100 Countries
Stripe is scaling stablecoin cards quickly, with Kraken and Ramp among its customers. The rollout fits into the growth of digital dollars and new payment infrastructure beyond trading.
Key Takeaways
- Stripe wants to offer its stablecoin cards in more than 100 countries by the end of this year.
- Customers like Kraken, Ramp, and Morse are already using the stablecoin service, which Stripe connects to its existing card infrastructure.
- Along with stablecoins, Stripe is also exploring tokenized deposits, DeFi use cases, and more digital assets as a payment method.
Stripe is going all in on stablecoin payments and wants to offer its stablecoin cards in more than 100 countries by the end of this year. That gives digital dollars a more prominent place alongside traditional currencies, while the payments company also explores new uses for crypto and payments.
Fast Growth in Stablecoin Cards
Henri Stern, who as CEO and cofounder of crypto wallet infrastructure company Privy is now also responsible for stablecoins and crypto within Stripe, told CoinDesk that the rollout is being scaled up quickly. Current customers include crypto exchange Kraken, fintech company Ramp, and payment app Morse.
The timing fits a market that is clearly getting bigger. The stablecoin market is now worth more than $315 billion (€281 billion), and payment cards tied to stablecoins are quickly gaining ground. In April, Visa’s annual run rate for stablecoin card programs had already reached $7 billion (€6.2 billion), while card volume in May hit a record $828 million (€738 million), according to the provided market data.
Stripe Builds on Existing Rails
Stripe is not trying to position stablecoins as a standalone product, but as part of the infrastructure it already has. Since 2018, the company has issued more than 400 million cards and processed hundreds of billions of dollars in card volume. The stablecoin service combines that card network with Bridge, the stablecoin infrastructure company Stripe bought in 2024 for $1.1 billion (€1 billion).
According to Stern, that could mean companies like Ramp can roll out a business card in new countries faster without having to build new banking and payment connections for each market. Kraken has meanwhile looked at ways for customers to pay from accounts where they already hold their digital assets.
Stripe is keeping the setup intentionally broad. Many programs still use Circle’s USDC, but according to Stern the company wants to stay fully stablecoin-agnostic and blockchain-agnostic. Stripe is also exploring tokenized deposits, DeFi use cases, and accepting more digital assets as a payment method, although stablecoin work remains the core for now.
Why This Matters for Europe
For European crypto followers, this expansion shows that stablecoins are being used more and more outside trading and cross-border transfers. That matters now that payment companies, crypto exchanges, and wallets are looking for ways to plug digital dollars into existing payment flows. The growth of stablecoin cards could also show how quickly the infrastructure around crypto payments is maturing, without needing a brand-new consumer product right away.
Other payment companies are making the same move. MoneyGram already launched a Visa card that lets customers hold and spend a dollar stablecoin, first in Colombia and later in other markets.
