Crypto card spending on Solana set a new monthly high, extending a run of records driven by stablecoins, issuer rewards and cheap transactions
Solana just had its biggest month yet for stablecoin spending in the real world. Crypto card spending funded by stablecoins on the network hit a record $141 million in October.
From $19.7 million to a new record
October’s figure tops a strong September. According to on-chain data tracked by Paymentscan, Solana’s stablecoin-linked card volumes reached $113.9 million that month.
A year earlier, the same metric was $19.7 million. That works out to a 478% year-over-year increase.
October then went higher still. Research findings place the month’s card spend at approximately $141 million, and preliminary data suggested the final total could land above that mark.
The pattern matters more than any single month. Card spending on Solana has notched consistent monthly record highs through this year, so October is part of a streak rather than a one-off spike.
Solana is not alone in this race. Total tracked stablecoin card spending across all networks reached a record of approximately $1.17 billion in September, with some estimates for the period running as high as $1.37 billion.
Within that market, Solana typically ranks third by on-chain volume share. Base and Optimism usually sit ahead of it.
What is powering the swipe
Partnerships with major card networks such as Visa give these cards broad merchant acceptance. Issuer incentives are doing heavy lifting too. RedotPay, one of the leading card programs, has drawn users with rewards and accounted for roughly $402 million in card volume over a recent 30-day window.
Solana’s low fees and high transaction throughput make it practical to settle many small payments.
The currencies in use are overwhelmingly dollar-denominated. USDC captures about 58% of stablecoin card volume, while USDT accounts for about 26%.
A bigger stablecoin base underneath
Card spending is the visible tip of a larger stablecoin footprint on the network. Solana’s stablecoin supply has climbed past $15 billion, peaking at roughly $17.3 billion to $17.5 billion in September.
The user base is growing alongside that supply. Solana counted more than 14 million stablecoin-holding addresses by early October, a wide pool of wallets that could eventually be linked to cards.
Cumulatively, the network has now processed more than $1 billion in stablecoin card volume.
Infrastructure work continues in parallel. Developments such as a delivery-versus-payment (DvP) framework for atomic settlement point to the same goal. In that setup, two sides of a trade settle at the same instant or not at all, which reduces counterparty risk.
What this means
That points to a concentration risk worth watching. A large share of activity runs through a handful of card programs, and RedotPay’s volume alone is substantial.
Stablecoin issuer dependence is another factor. With USDC and USDT together accounting for the bulk of volume, any disruption or policy change at either issuer would ripple straight into these numbers.
The metrics to track from here are straightforward. Watch whether monthly card spending keeps setting records, whether Solana gains share on Base and Optimism, and whether new card partnerships widen the issuer base beyond today’s leaders.
