An business chief mentioned stablecoin-powered playing cards are shaping as much as be one of many greatest crypto themes of 2026, which search to supply the advantages of blockchain whereas holding the cost expertise acquainted for shoppers.
“This is among the huge themes of 2026: crypto turns into enmeshed extra deeply into how funds circulate by the worldwide economic system,“ Haseeb Qureshi, a managing companion at crypto-focused enterprise capital agency Dragonfly, posted to X Friday.
“Stablecoin playing cards are rising like loopy, in all places on this planet,” the VC added after stablecoin startup Rain raised $250 million in a funding spherical that pushed its valuation to just about $2 billion.
The massive funding spherical got here as Rain elevated its lively card base 30-fold and its annualized cost quantity by practically 40 instances in 2025, making it one of many fastest-growing fintech corporations globally.
The platform helps main stablecoins, together with Tether (USDT) and USDC (USDC), throughout a number of blockchain networks, together with Ethereum, Solana, Tron, and Stellar.
Rain is a part of a brand new wave of stablecoin startups integrating blockchain into cost programs for sooner settlement, decrease prices, and larger international attain whereas holding the expertise seamless for shoppers, Qureshi famous:
“They do not even know that it is crypto below the hood. All they know is that impulsively, they will pay individuals and purchase stuff in {dollars}, any time, wherever, and all of it ‘simply works.’”
It comes as Bloomberg Intelligence predicted on Thursday that stablecoin cost flows would enhance at an 81% Compounded Annual Progress Charge to $56.6 trillion by 2030.
Stablecoin playing cards might face restricted use in developed markets
Not everyone seems to be satisfied that stablecoin funds will problem conventional playing cards in developed nations, nonetheless, with Higher Tomorrow Ventures GP, Sheel Mohnot, stating that stablecoin service provider acceptance lacks a captive viewers, exclusivity, and killer incentives to make a significant change.
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Pantera Capital investor Mason Nystrom opposed Mohnot’s view, highlighting that stablecoin funds present retailers with instantaneous payouts, quick settlement, and chargeback safety:
“Stablecoin rails are coming for all the fintech stack. Some incumbents will undertake, different[s] will likely be wholesale changed. Stablecoin checkout will likely be huge.”
Stablecoin regulation is transferring ahead
The passing of the GENIUS Act within the US appeared to spice up regulatory momentum late final 12 months, with Canada and the UK renewing efforts to implement stablecoin frameworks in 2026 or the close to future.
Institutional adoption can be ramping up, with remittance platform Western Union set to launch a stablecoin settlement system on the Solana blockchain within the first half of 2026 alongside a stablecoin card to allow shopper spending in rising markets.
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