Giving Stablecoins Real-World Spending Power

Stablecoins have quickly become one of the most widely-held digital assets in the world. In 2025, the total stablecoin market capitalization surpassed $300 billion.

So far, demand has mostly been driven by companies and consumers looking to settle cross-border invoices or send remittances. Cryptocurrency traders also use stablecoins as a way to access liquidity. In each case, stablecoins have proven their value as efficient settlement tools and digital dollar equivalents that move quickly across borders.

Thanks to the countless crypto exchanges and wallet providers available, it's easier than ever for businesses and consumers to buy, hold, and send stablecoins. But after the trade is made, or the invoice is settled, or the remittance is received, the recipient is left with a question: how can these stablecoins be used to make everyday purchases?

The answer is that it’s not easy. Turning a crypto wallet balance into value that real-world merchants accept can be an expensive, long process with multiple intermediaries along the way.  

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Easy to acquire, hard to spend

Consider a contractor who gets paid in USDC, one of the most popular stablecoins. It is an excellent currency for settling invoices because transfers are fast and inexpensive, even internationally. A business sends the contractor’s payment to their wallet, and now that value sits onchain, fully settled in seconds.

But when the contractor wants to use that USDC to buy their morning coffee or their ChatGPT subscription, the experience becomes more complicated.

In most cases, here is what they would need to do:

1. Transfer the USDC to an exchange or conversion provider
2. Convert to fiat
3. Withdraw to a bank account and pay the related fees
4. Wait a couple of business days for the funds to show up in the account
5. Buy the coffee

Of course, waiting two business days to buy a $6 latte or pay for a critical digital subscription is impractical. Stablecoins move instantly onchain, but the moment you want to use them in the real world, you’re forced back into legacy banking rails.

The result is that stablecoins often remain savings balances or trading tools instead of becoming true everyday money.

Rain changes that.

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Connect your stablecoins to Visa’s global network

Spending stablecoins is such a cumbersome process because historically, stablecoin rails and traditional payment networks have operated separately. Rain brings them together.  

As a Visa Principal Member, Rain-issued cards can be used at over 150 million merchant locations in more than 150 countries.

With Rain-powered card programs, users link their onchain wallet, and we handle the rest. Cardholders can tap, swipe, or check out online just like they would with any other payment card, all while using their stablecoin balances.

Here’s how that same coffee purchase would work using a Rain-powered card:

1. Fund the Rain account by linking a wallet
2. Use the Rain-issued card at checkout
3. Buy the coffee

For users unaccustomed with crypto platforms, Rain also supports fiat onramps. Accounts can be funded with ACH or wire transfers, no crypto knowledge required. In either case, though, the card experience remains familiar and seamless.

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Built natively for stablecoins

Not all crypto card programs are designed to make stablecoins truly spendable.

Most crypto cards are actually just fiat cards with rewards paid out in crypto. Others operate like a debit card where crypto holdings are sold for fiat at the point of purchase, creating tax complications down the line. Rain’s programs are different because it’s a credit product, so merchant acceptance is higher and partners take home more on interchange.

For cardholders, this means being able to spend directly from their stablecoin holdings. For partners like exchanges or wallet providers, this means adding in a payments layer that keeps users engaged and on-platform, all while adding a revenue stream.

On the front end, you’d never know stablecoins were involved, but on the back end, things move more efficiently. Rain’s stablecoin-powered infrastructure enables real-time conversion and daily settlement with Visa, even on weekends and holidays, so partners can launch a card program without needing to hold massive reserve balances.

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Turning stablecoins into everyday money

Stablecoins have proven their value as digital dollars for settlement and liquidity, but to get to a place of mainstream adoption, they need to be usable

When stablecoins can be spent anywhere Visa is accepted, they move beyond trading desks and treasury workflows and into daily life. They become real money.

If you are building a wallet, exchange, neobank, or financial platform and want to turn stablecoin balances into real-world purchasing power, Rain provides the infrastructure to do it. Let’s talk.