Onchain Banking

Introduction

Stablecoin-powered neobanks have one of the clearest consumer wedges in crypto. They combine four features that are difficult for traditional fintechs to deliver globally from day one: dollar access, cross-border transfers, yield-bearing balances, and spend functionality through card networks or local payment rails.

The winners are trying to own the user’s primary financial relationship on stablecoin rails, especially in markets where local currencies are weak, dollar access is constrained and banking rails are expensive. Card spend is the clearest entry point for these businesses and the area where we see the most traction today.

As shown above, weekly crypto card volumes have climbed steadily since early 2023 and now exceed $200M. The leading card issuers, RedotPay and KAST, are private companies without liquid tokens. Bloomberg reported in February that RedotPay was considering an IPO in the US to potentially raise over $1B at a $4B valuation, while KAST raised an $80M Series A in March, valuing the company at $600M less than 18 months after launch.