‘Cryptocurrency Payment Card Explosion: The ‘Super Connector’ Between Web3 and Traditional Finance
I. Phenomenon: The ‘Hundred Groups Battling’ of Cryptocurrency Payment Cards
In 2025, the cryptocurrency payment card market is experiencing explosive growth, with leading platforms like Crypto.com, Binance, and Bybit entering the field, while emerging DeFi protocols like Ethena and Morpho are also entering the market through collaboration. Core driving factors:
User retention strategy: Payment cards bind on-chain assets with consumption scenarios, enhancing protocol stickiness
Regulatory arbitrage space: Relatively relaxed compliance environment in regions such as Europe (e.g., Lithuania's e-money license)
Earnings stacking effect: Combining stablecoin interest (e.g., 5% annualized for USDC) + transaction cashback (up to 8%)
II. Dissection of Business Logic
1. Triple Profit Model
Income layer source profit margin on-chain tax stablecoin reserve interest (U.S. Treasury yield) 2-5% off-chain tax transaction fees (Visa/Mastercard revenue share) 1.5-3% ecosystem tax monetization of user behavior data, referral commission variable
2. Key Innovations
Real-time Delta Hedging: Some card issuers synchronize closing perpetual contracts during user spending to avoid volatility risk
DeFi Aggregator Model: For example, Infini Card automatically deposits idle funds into Morpho, providing an additional 2-3% return
III. User Behavior Insights
According to a Bitget Wallet survey (sample size 12,000):
46% of users choose cryptocurrency cards for ‘low cross-border payment fees’ (traditional banks average 3% vs. cryptocurrency cards 1%)
32% of users value the ‘spending is mining’ mechanism (e.g., BNB cashback from Binance Card)
Top 3 pain points: Merchant acceptance (58%), fiat currency exchange delays (23%), complicated KYC (19%)
IV. Future Trends in Regulatory Games
1. Compliance Survival
The EU MiCA bill requires completion of EMT license applications by 2026
The U.S. FINCEN intends to include cryptocurrency cards under MSB regulation, possibly imposing a 0.1% transaction tax
2. Technological Breakthrough Directions
ZK-KYC: Manta Network and others provide privacy compliance solutions
Dynamic Anchoring: Algorithmic stablecoins + options combination hedging (e.g., Ethena v2 design)
3. Endgame Hypothesis
Payment cards will evolve into the ‘Web3 Super Entry’, integrating:
Credit lending (based on on-chain credit scoring)
NFT membership rights (e.g., exclusive PASS for black card users)
DAO governance voting rights (consumption amount converted to governance weight)
‘The future winner is not the protocol that issues the most cards, but the platform that can build a closed-loop financial ecosystem’
