For companies holding stablecoin balances on behalf of their users, whether you are a crypto exchange, neobank, or cross-border payments provider, there may be a critical gap in your product offering. Your users have digital dollars sitting in their accounts but lack a seamless way to spend them in the real world. Stablecoin-backed card programs bridge this gap while creating the potential to unlock significant competitive advantages, new revenue streams, and the ability to expand into new markets faster.
Unlocking trapped value
Each forced withdrawal a user faces is more than an inconvenience. It breaks the continuity of the user experience and weakens the platform’s relationship with its customers. Funds leave in large, infrequent chunks, and users begin to think of the product as temporary storage rather than a place to manage day-to-day finances. In this model, stablecoins are liquid onchain but illiquid in the real economy.
Card programs flip this dynamic. Instead of users withdrawing $500 to their bank account to spend over the next week, they keep the full balance on your platform and spend it through the card. This transforms your platform from a storage solution into a broader financial ecosystem. You retain customers on your platform, improving your TVL metrics, generate revenue from each transaction, and keep users engaged daily.
Companies like Phantom, Zepz, and Chipper are demonstrating that card programs can dramatically increase user engagement and retention. When users can spend their stablecoin balances in over 150 countries globally through card networks, your platform becomes a core part of their daily financial lives.
Some critics argue that routing stablecoins through card networks undermines the promise of crypto-native payments. Cards introduce intermediaries and require compliance with legacy systems. These concerns are valid but incomplete. Today, card networks remain the dominant interface to global commerce. Merchants expect them, consumers trust them, and acceptance is nearly universal. Ignoring this reality often results in products that are elegant in theory but unusable at scale.
Capturing new revenue streams
Another common misconception is that card programs are purely defensive, useful for retention but marginal from a revenue perspective. While interchange alone is rarely transformative, a well-designed stablecoin-backed card program creates multiple reinforcing economic levers.
- Interchange fees: Every card transaction generates interchange revenue paid by the merchant, creating a sustainable income stream proportional to user spending.
- FX conversion fees: When users spend in currencies different from their stablecoin denomination, you can capture your own margin on conversions. Bridge does not charge a markup on FX transactions.
- Premium card tiers: Offer enhanced benefits, bundled services, or higher limits at premium price points or through subscription fees.
- Rewards from custom stablecoin balances: Users can spend from balances held in a custom stablecoin issued by Bridge, allowing you to earn rewards on the reserves.
Expanding global reach with minimal infrastructure
The case for stablecoin-backed cards becomes even stronger outside mature banking markets. In regions affected by currency volatility, inflation, or limited access to financial infrastructure, the ability to spend USD-denominated value globally is transformative.
Traditionally, offering this experience requires building local banking relationships, navigating regulatory complexity, and maintaining fragmented infrastructure across markets. Stablecoin-backed card programs abstract much of this complexity. By issuing cards across multiple regions simultaneously, platforms can offer a consistent financial experience while avoiding the need to rebuild their stack country by country. Bridge’s partnership with Visa enables issuance in multiple countries across Latin America, Africa, and the US, with Europe and additional markets launching in 2026.
Bridge provides a global card issuance solution delivered through a single API, enabling companies to launch card programs that are compliant with bank sponsor and network policies across multiple markets.
- End-to-end platform: Card programs integrate seamlessly with Bridge and Stripe’s crypto platform and single KYC experience, including onramps, offramps, wallets, and custom stablecoin issuance that enable additional revenue opportunities.
- Non-custodial wallet spend: Users can instantly spend stablecoin balances held in wallets they control via smart contracts.
- Fast onboarding: Leveraging the program management and technical expertise of Bridge and Stripe, businesses can launch compliantly in weeks across multiple markets with a single integration.
- Favorable economics: Global cardholders enjoy a seamless spending experience, as Bridge eliminates typical cross-border fees and FX markups on local transactions.
Interested in learning more? Chat with us.
Bridge is not a bank. The Prepaid Debit Visa Card is issued by Lead Bank and managed by Bridge Ventures, LLC. Fees may apply. See www.bridge.xyz/legal for more details.
The content in this article is for general information and education purposes only and should not be construed as legal or tax advice. Bridge does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, adequacy, or currency of the information in the article. You should seek the advice of a competent attorney or accountant licensed to practice in your jurisdiction for advice on your particular situation.
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