Bank Cards and Crypto: Stripe Aims for Over 100 Countries by December

Stripe aims to enable payments in stablecoins with a crypto Visa card in over 100 countries by December. At the end of April, these cards were operational in 30 countries. The online payment giant is expanding into a market that has tripled in a year.

A Classic Visa Card, a Balance in Stablecoins

Stripe manages online payments for millions of businesses and claims to have issued over 400 million bank cards to other companies since 2018.

For stablecoins, Stripe has partnered with Bridge. Founded in 2022, this company allows businesses to send, receive, and convert stablecoins. Stripe acquired it for $1.1 billion, a deal finalized in February 2025.

In April 2025, Bridge partnered with Visa to launch cards funded in stablecoins, initially in Latin America. That same year, Bridge's volumes more than quadrupled, according to Stripe.

The card functions like a classic Visa. It draws from a balance in stablecoins, such as USDC. With each purchase, Bridge converts the stablecoins into local currency. The merchant receives their usual currency.

Henri Stern, Stripe's new crypto head, wants to make stablecoins an additional option in businesses' tools. They should be able to use them without needing to understand crypto.

Stripe provides these turnkey cards to businesses, which distribute them under their own brand. Among its clients are the payment app Morse, the wallet Phantom, and the exchange Kraken.

18 Countries in March, Over 100 Targeted by December

On March 3, 2026, Visa and Bridge announced plans to expand these cards to over 100 countries by the end of the year. After Latin America, the rollout is set to reach Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East.

The cards were then operational in 18 countries. By the end of April, Bridge announced 30. On October 5, Stripe reaffirmed the goal of 100 countries.

Launching a corporate card in a new country typically requires establishing agreements with local banks. With stablecoins, a Stripe client company could bypass this. Stripe and Bridge handle the issuance of the cards and the conversion of stablecoins.

No list of countries has been published. In France, the arrival will also depend on the companies distributing these cards. The Morse app is already open there, but its card is only offered in 16 countries, including the United States and Latin America.

From $403 Million to $1.2 Billion in Purchases in One Year

This market is already quite crowded. In September, the thirty crypto card programs tracked by Paymentscan processed $1.2 billion in purchases. A year earlier, they processed $403 million, which is three times less.

The number of payments has doubled to 11.5 million per month. The average purchase amount has risen from $71 to $106.

The market is led by crypto specialists: RedotPay, which accounts for about a third of spending, followed by EtherFi and KAST.

Crypto cards today account for about 1,000 times less in monthly purchases than the Visa network alone.

Privy, Tempo, Open USD: Stripe's Crypto Strategy

The cards are just one part of Stripe's crypto strategy. The group acquired Privy, a wallet specialist, in 2025. In March 2026, Stripe and the Paradigm fund launched Tempo, a blockchain dedicated to payments.

Many of Stripe's card programs currently use Circle's USDC. On September 30, Open USD was introduced, a stablecoin issued by Bridge designed to compete with USDC and USDT.

Open Standard, the company behind Open USD, has over 200 partner companies. Its initial investors include Stripe, Coinbase, Shopify, Visa, and Mastercard. Open USD shares revenue from its reserves with its partners.

Henri Stern assures that Stripe will remain "totally agnostic" and allow its clients to choose their stablecoin as well as their blockchain. However, Open Standard presents Open USD as the default stablecoin for Stripe's clients.

DeFi Among Stripe's Considerations

The group is also exploring DeFi and the acceptance of new cryptos, with no announced timeline. "By far, most of our work focuses on stablecoins," notes Henri Stern.

A balance in USDC can be used to pay with these cards. It can also be lent on DeFi protocols, aiming for a yield paid by borrowers, independent of market direction. Members of the Club 25% are already doing this from their own wallets.

The Club 25% is a private club of 150 investors managing their savings in stablecoins via DeFi, aiming for 15 to 25% per year, with no directional exposure, dedicating a few hours each quarter.

Stripe has until December 31 for the stablecoin cards it provides to operate in over 100 countries.