Stablecoin payment competition heats up, Rain's nearly $2 billion valuation ignites the "Payment Stack War" in crypto cards

On January 21, as the crypto card infrastructure company Rain completed a $250 million Series C funding round this month with a valuation approaching $2 billion, the competition around “how stablecoins are truly spent” in the crypto payment space is rapidly intensifying. Research firm Artemis data shows that crypto card payment volume is growing at an annualized rate of 106%, with an annual transaction volume reaching $18 billion, close to the approximately $19 billion in peer-to-peer stablecoin transfers. Artemis researcher Patrick Kim predicts that by the end of this year, crypto cards will become the primary retail payment scenario for stablecoins. Currently, this “payment stack war” is mainly unfolding along three paths:

First is the full-stack issuance model. Rain and Hong Kong-based Reap have become Visa’s principal members, integrating complete infrastructure such as card issuance and settlement, bypassing traditional banking systems. Rain disclosed that its card user base has increased 30-fold year-over-year, payment volume has grown 38 times, and the platform now has over 200 clients.

Second is the orchestration layer model. Stripe’s acquisition of Bridge for $1.1 billion and its valuation of about $1 billion for Zero Hash represent large tech and financial infrastructure companies betting on “chain-agnostic” solutions, helping merchants accept and settle stablecoins without concern for the underlying blockchain.

Third is dedicated blockchain for payments. Some new players believe that general-purpose chains like Ethereum are not designed for payments. Supported by CEX, Stable plans to launch a blockchain focused on payments by the end of 2025, with approximately $2 billion in pre-committed funds, aiming to deliver a stablecoin transfer experience without additional Gas costs.

Regionally, emerging markets are the core drivers of stablecoin payment growth. Real payment demand in Africa, Latin America, and South Asia is significantly higher than in Europe and America. Data shows that Visa currently accounts for over 90% of on-chain card payment share, mainly benefiting from its native stablecoin settlement pilot supporting USDC, while USDT has not yet been integrated into this system.