From On-Chain to Off-Chain: How Gate Card Becomes the Consumer Infrastructure of the PayFi Ecosystem

The crypto asset industry has grown significantly, with the global user base expanding continuously. However, a long-standing contradiction remains unresolved: digital assets in users' wallets are abundant, yet they are difficult to use directly for everyday spending. From supermarket shopping to online subscriptions, from cross-border payments to ATM withdrawals, the path for digital assets to enter the real economy remains far from smooth.

This situation is changing. In 2025, the annual transaction volume of stablecoins reached approximately $33 trillion, surpassing the combined total of $25.5 trillion processed by Visa and Mastercard. In the first quarter of 2026, the total market cap of stablecoins reached $315 billion, with quarterly transaction volume reaching $28 trillion, a 51% increase quarter-over-quarter. Crypto payments are moving from niche applications to mainstream consumer infrastructure.

In this shift, PayFi is becoming the core engine connecting on-chain assets with real-world consumption. Gate Card, as the digital asset Visa card launched by Gate, is attempting to answer a key question: Can crypto assets truly become a daily payment tool?

The PayFi Era: Deep Integration of Payments and Finance

PayFi (Payment Finance) is a concept proposed by Lily Liu, Chair of the Solana Foundation. Its core is to build a new financial market centered around the "time value of money"—deeply integrating payments with financial services so that every payment can inherently generate financial value.

Traditional crypto payments merely use digital assets as a medium of exchange, whereas PayFi is evolving into the next-generation payment finance engine. Its core lies not in the form of crypto payments themselves, but in using the "time value of money" as an entry point to restructure the relationship between payments, settlement, and financial services.

From 2025 to 2026, PayFi is upgrading from a crypto payment tool into a new-generation payment finance engine. Stablecoins are achieving large-scale application in high-frequency and cross-border payments, with settlement efficiency and cost structures significantly superior to traditional systems. Cross-border payment is currently the most mature application scenario for PayFi, with settlement cycles compressed from days to minutes and overall costs reduced by an order of magnitude compared to traditional systems.

Stablecoins are becoming the core settlement layer in the PayFi system. As of May 2026, the total global market cap of stablecoins has reached $321.6 billion, an increase of approximately 12% since the beginning of the year. USDT supply has climbed to $189 billion, accounting for over 58% of market share. Stablecoins have gradually become a global high-frequency payment tool, with their payment attributes significantly strengthened.

At the same time, the boundary between Web2 and Web3 is dissolving. Traditional finance and tech giants such as Visa and PayPal no longer view Web3 as a threat but rather as a core technological driver to improve efficiency and expand business boundaries. Visa is evolving from a traditional card network into a multi-chain settlement network, operating over 130 stablecoin-linked card programs in more than 50 countries. This integration and symbiosis are replacing disruption as the main theme of interaction between the two ecosystems.

The Consumption Gap for Digital Assets: A Structural Long-term Pain Point

The use case for stablecoins has rapidly expanded from a settlement tool within exchanges to a payment medium with global circulation capabilities. On-chain transaction volumes for USDT and USDC continue to rise, and more merchants are beginning to accept stablecoin payments, either directly or indirectly.

However, a structural contradiction persists: although the scale of crypto asset management continues to grow, the channel for large-scale entry into daily consumption scenarios remains insufficiently smooth. If a user wants to use USDT for payment, they typically need to go through a complex path: transfer USDT from a wallet to a trading account, sell it for fiat, withdraw it to a bank account, and then complete the transaction using a traditional bank card. This chain takes hours to days and involves multiple fees.

Crypto assets have experienced significant value growth over past market cycles. According to Gate market data, as of June 29, 2026, Bitcoin was quoted at $59,270.7, with a market cap of $1.18 trillion; Ethereum was quoted at $1,558.93, with a market cap of $330k; GT was quoted at $6.50, with a market cap of $692 million. However, these assets, valued at hundreds of billions or even trillions of dollars, still circulate with extremely low efficiency in real consumption scenarios.

Price volatility further increases the difficulty of spending. Bitcoin fell 10.73% over the past 30 days and accumulated a decline of 33.74% over the past year; Ethereum fell 20.92% over the past 30 days and accumulated a decline of 31.14% over the past year. Users worry that the assets they spend today might appreciate significantly in the future, which suppresses the willingness to consume. The situation for stablecoins is different—USDT's price is stable, making it naturally suitable as a payment medium for daily consumption, but it lacks the infrastructure for direct spending.

This gap represents the market opportunity for crypto payment cards.

Gate Card: The Payment Gateway for PayFi Implementation

Gate Card is a digital asset Visa card launched by Gate, directly linked to the Gate Pay payment account. Users do not need to exchange USDT or other digital assets for fiat in advance; the system completes the necessary asset conversion and settlement at the moment of the transaction. This means users' on-chain assets can maintain their original form and are only called upon at the moment of consumption.

Gate Card's working logic forms a clear contrast with traditional bank cards: traditional bank cards connect to bank account balances, whereas Gate Card connects to digital asset accounts. After a user holds assets such as USDT, BTC, ETH, or GT in their Gate Pay payment account, when making a purchase, the system automatically does two things in the instant the transaction occurs: convert the user's selected digital asset into US dollars at the real-time exchange rate, and then settle the amount to the merchant via the Visa network. The entire process is completed in seconds, and the user only perceives an ordinary card-swipe experience.

This design eliminates the intermediate steps of "sell coins first, then withdraw, and then spend." For users who hold stablecoins long-term, Gate Card transforms USDT from a "held asset" directly into an "available asset."

Currently, Gate Card supports four digital assets for direct payment: USDT, BTC, ETH, and GT. When a user holds these assets in their Gate Pay payment account, they can choose any one as the debit source at the time of consumption. The specific available currencies may vary depending on the card type, issuer, or region, and more asset types will be gradually supported in the future based on business development.

Payment Abstraction Layer: Eliminating Intermediate Steps

The core design concept of Gate Card is: when making a purchase, digital assets are deducted directly, but merchants still receive fiat currency, and users do not need to manually exchange currency.

When a user swipes the card, taps, or enters card information online at a merchant terminal, the system automatically completes asset conversion and settlement at the moment the transaction occurs. The user does not need to exchange currency in advance or perform complex off-chain operations.

The core value brought by this design is:

Eliminating time costs: The traditional path takes hours to days; Gate Card compresses the entire process to seconds.

Reducing fee expenses: The traditional path involves multiple fees; Gate Card generates only a single fee at the time of the transaction.

Preserving asset form: Users' on-chain assets can maintain their original form without needing to be exchanged for fiat in advance.

Simplifying user experience: Users perceive only an ordinary card-swipe experience and do not need to handle complex on-chain operations.

Global Coverage: A Payment Network of 150 Million Merchants

Gate Card can be used at over 150 million Visa merchants worldwide. Scenarios such as online shopping, in-store purchases, mobile payments, and even ATM withdrawals are all within its supported range.

Gate Card is available in two card forms:

The virtual card is the preferred entry point for most users. After completing Level 2 personal identity verification, the virtual card is typically ready for use within 3 to 5 minutes. The virtual card is suitable for online shopping and can be linked to Apple Pay and Google Pay for contactless payments via mobile devices.

The physical card covers an even wider range of scenarios: chip-and-PIN payments, contactless payments, and global ATM withdrawals. Both card types are free of issuance fees, monthly fees, and inactivity fees.

Industry data shows that the crypto payment card market is expanding rapidly. Monthly transaction volume of crypto cards grew from approximately $100 million in January 2023 to over $1.5 billion by the end of 2025. By early 2026, the monthly spending volume of crypto payment cards had reached the range of $500 million to $600 million, with an annualized run rate exceeding $5 billion. Crypto card payment volume is growing at an annualized rate of 106%. Visa is implementing over 130 stablecoin-linked bank card programs in more than 50 countries globally, with its stablecoin settlement business reaching an annualized transaction volume of $7 billion in April 2026.

These data indicate that crypto payments are moving from niche applications to mainstream consumer infrastructure.

Cashback Mechanism: Spend to Accumulate

In addition to payment functionality, the cashback system is another important feature of Gate Card. Gate Card deeply binds spending behavior with a reward mechanism. For each eligible transaction completed by the user, points are earned, which can be exchanged for USDT or GT at a fixed ratio.

The cashback system adopts a five-level tier structure from T0 to T4:

| Card Level | Points per USD | Actual Cashback Rate | Monthly Points Redemption Cap | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | T0 | 1 point | 1.00% | 500 points | | T1 | 1 point | 1.00% | 5,000 points | | T2 | 2 points | 2.00% | 10,000 points | | T3 | 3 points | 3.00% | 15,000 points | | T4 | 5 points | 5.00% | 25,000 points |

The cashback rate is determined by the card level. The conversion logic is: for every $1 spent, the corresponding points are earned; 100 points can be exchanged for 1 USDT. Taking T4 as an example, for every $1 spent, 5 points are earned, equivalent to a 5% cashback.

The card level and corresponding cashback rate and monthly cashback cap will be determined based on the user's Gate VIP level or the card's monthly spending, whichever yields the higher benefit. New level benefits take effect on the first day of the following calendar month and last throughout the month.

Points are valid indefinitely with no expiration risk and can be redeemed at any time.

The Role of Gate Card in the PayFi System: Last-Mile Consumer Infrastructure

Within the entire PayFi system, Gate Card plays the role of "last-mile consumer infrastructure."

PayFi constructs a complete value circulation loop from on-chain assets to real-world consumption. In this loop, stablecoins are the settlement layer, DeFi is the financial layer, and Gate Card is the entry point for consumption. It addresses the most critical issue in the PayFi system: how to enable on-chain assets to truly enter daily consumption scenarios.

Specifically, Gate Card performs three functions in the PayFi system:

Payment Gateway: As a bridge connecting on-chain assets to the Visa payment network, Gate Card allows users to use digital assets directly for consumption without going through complex intermediate steps.

Value Conversion Layer: Gate Card performs real-time conversion of digital assets to fiat at the moment of the transaction, so merchants receive fiat while users are debited in digital assets. This design enables the value of on-chain assets to be realized in the real economy.

Incentive Mechanism: Through the cashback system, Gate Card transforms consumption behavior into continuous accumulation of digital assets, forming a positive cycle of "spend-cashback-spend again."

From a broader perspective, the value of Gate Card lies in making PayFi move from "concept" to "usable." No matter how refined the theoretical framework of PayFi is, if users cannot use digital assets for payment in real-world scenarios, the entire system lacks the most critical link—value realization on the consumption side. Gate Card fills this gap.

Conclusion

The crypto asset industry is undergoing a structural shift from speculation-driven to utility-driven value. The market's focus is moving from the next 100x token to the next million-user application. In this shift, payments become the most critical link.

PayFi is becoming a key bridge connecting Web2 and Web3. Stablecoins have gradually become a global high-frequency payment tool, and the construction of crypto payment infrastructure has matured. However, the pain point of users having abundant digital assets in their wallets but finding it difficult to use them directly for daily consumption remains fundamentally unresolved.

Gate Card's positioning is precisely to solve this problem. As a digital asset Visa card directly linked to the Gate Pay payment account, Gate Card allows users to complete payments at over 150 million Visa merchants worldwide without needing to exchange for fiat in advance. It eliminates the intermediate steps of "sell coins first, then withdraw, and then spend," turning on-chain assets into a truly usable payment tool.

In the grand narrative of PayFi, Gate Card plays the role of last-mile consumer infrastructure—it is the ultimate channel for realizing the value of on-chain assets in the real economy and a key step in moving PayFi from theory to everyday life.