[Token Analysis] The Next Destination for $60 Billion Stablecoins

Two numbers are indicating the direction of the current crypto market.

$600 million in monthly crypto card payments. $5.58 billion on-chain lending market. One shows the speed at which consumers are using blockchain assets to purchase physical goods, the other shows the speed at which dormant stablecoins on the chain are transforming into sources of real economy credit. Both flows are moving in the same direction. Now is the turning point where stablecoins are shifting from speculative tools to actual operational financial infrastructure.

Crypto Cards: 500% growth in two years

As early as the beginning of 2023, the monthly payment volume for crypto cards was almost zero. Starting from September 2024, the curve changed. In just eight months thereafter, payments surged over 500%, surpassing an average of $600 million per month by March 2026. From a chain perspective, TRON and BSC hold significant shares, followed by Ethereum, Solana, Base, and Arbitrum.

The key point is that Visa controls 90% of this market. Visa’s strategy is clear: reduce reliance on traditional card-issuing banks and instead directly partner with emerging blockchain infrastructure providers. The payment network is reshaping itself by integrating stablecoin pathways.

The most notable recent case is Jupiter Global. This service offers 4% to 10% cashback for crypto card users, with transaction volume in April increasing over 660% month-over-month. This marks the moment when traditional financial card reward structures are being transplanted onto the chain. For consumers, the disadvantages of crypto cards compared to traditional credit cards are disappearing.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released an empirical study (WP/26/52) in March 2026, analyzing that after the passage of the GENIUS Act, the total market value of companies focused on cross-border payments decreased by about 27%. The market is betting that stablecoin-based payment infrastructure will replace existing players. Data from crypto cards is showing how quickly this bet is turning into reality.

$300 billion in stablecoins are seeking a way out

The problem is that stablecoins used for payments are far fewer than the unused stablecoins. Currently, the on-chain stablecoin supply is about $300 billion. Most are in standby mode and not generating productive returns.

Looking back at early DeFi yield structures, the reason is clear. Token incentives, leverage, liquidity mining, and the cycle of borrowing against mined assets to reinvest in mining. The source of yields is internal demand within the crypto market—funds circulating within casinos—not linked to external real economy gains.

On-chain lending has changed this structure. The source of yields is no longer crypto speculation but the credit needs of the real economy. Enterprises, funds, fintech companies, and lending institutions borrow stablecoins for actual business use. In 2025, the on-chain lending market grew from $252 million to $5.58 billion, an approximately 22-fold increase. This currently accounts for 17.3% of the entire RWA (Real-World Asset Tokenization) market of $30 billion, which is projected to reach $40 trillion by 2030.

This is a scale issue. A market capable of accommodating $300 billion in stablecoin capital for productive allocation simply does not exist within crypto. The only market capable of absorbing this scale is the real credit market. On-chain lending is precisely that channel.

The next proposition for DeFi: making liquidity truly operational

The first generation of DeFi achieved the creation of liquidity. Capital gathered on-chain at an unprecedented speed. However, much of this liquidity is self-recycling. The second generation of DeFi asks a different question: can this liquidity be put to work in the real economy?

Crypto cards provide an answer at the consumer level. On-chain lending attempts to answer the same question at the capital allocation level. The simultaneous growth of these two markets is no coincidence. Stablecoins are used as actual payment methods and have become sources of real credit—the market has already begun to prove that this is feasible.

The data speaks: $600 million in monthly payments, with a 22-fold growth in the lending market. $300 billion in stablecoins are seeking a way out, and their destination is gradually taking shape.