Stablecoin Payments Rise 45% to $482 Billion in January–September
Key Facts
Stablecoin payments rose 45% to $482 billion in January–September 2026, according to Allium's third-quarter State of Stablecoins and Payments report. The company attributed the growth to the use of stablecoins for smaller, more frequent payments, alongside payment companies' expansion of related services. In the third quarter alone, payment value increased 51% from the same period a year earlier. September recorded the highest monthly payment value, at $72 billion, according to the report. The number of payments during the reporting period rose faster than their total value, increasing 71% to 1.04 billion transactions. The average payment fell from $544 to $462 in the comparison cited by Allium.
The increase in stablecoin use for payments came alongside limited growth in supply, which stood at $305 billion at the end of September 2026. Allium said supply rose just 0.4% from the start of the year, compared with faster growth in payment value and transaction count during the period. Among the networks processing these payments, Tron accounted for two-thirds of the value, according to the report. USDT held an 84% share of payment value, making it the leading stablecoin used for this purpose. Spending through stablecoin-linked cards rose to $3.9 billion during the reporting period. That spending grew 10-fold as programs linking stablecoin balances to card payment services expanded.
In a disclosure dated October 1, 2026, Visa said it supported more than 160 stablecoin-linked card programs, including consumer and business programs. The company announced that payment volume through these programs grew about 200% year on year. Visa's stablecoin-linked card use extended beyond consumer programs to include corporate spending through business programs and commercial cards. The company said these commercial programs contributed about 17% of its stablecoin-linked card payment volume. That share covers fiscal 2026 through the disclosure date, according to Visa's statement. The company's services in this area combine support for consumer and business card programs with the development of financing for their daily settlement obligations.
On financing those obligations, Visa said Credit Coop had developed a stablecoin-denominated revolving credit facility in collaboration with the company. The facility finances daily settlement obligations to Visa, with the settlement receivables themselves serving as collateral. The financing is thus tied to receivables arising from settlement transactions within the infrastructure supporting stablecoin-linked card programs. In another avenue connecting digital balances to spending, the Mastercard and BVNK platform offers accounts combining fiat currencies and stablecoins. BVNK described these accounts as allowing "fiat currencies and stablecoins to coexist, with built-in instant conversion." The platform, launched in October 2026, enables virtual card issuance in more than 130 countries for spending stablecoin balances.
Stripe announced on October 16, 2026, the launch of stablecoin card issuance in 27 EU countries as part of its geographic expansion of the service. The company said the launch brought the availability of such card issuance to more than 65 countries worldwide. Stripe's spending mechanism automatically converts stablecoins into local currency when a purchase is made. The merchant accepts the payment in the usual way it handles card payments, according to the company's explanation of the service. Conversion takes place at purchase, linking spending from a stablecoin-denominated balance to payment in the merchant's local currency. The European launch extends the issuance service's reach as payment companies expand links between stablecoin balances and card use in transactions.
The next phase of Stripe's plans includes expanding stablecoin card issuance to 100 countries by the end of 2026, according to the company's announcement. This target concerns the geographic availability of card issuance, while retaining the mechanism that converts stablecoin balances into local currency at purchase. A separate plan for local payment services on the Mastercard and BVNK platform targets expansion to more than 40 currencies in 2027. That expansion focuses on the range of currencies available for local payments, alongside the platform's accounts combining fiat currencies and stablecoins and enabling instant conversion between them. The two companies are thus including expanded local payment services in their plans for next year, while Stripe has set the end of this year as its target for expanding the geographic coverage of its card issuance.