OwlTing says stablecoins & cards can coexist at checkout

OwlTing says stablecoins and payment cards are likely to operate alongside each other as payment infrastructure evolves, pointing to its expanded collaboration with Visa as an example of how card networks and blockchain-based settlement can be combined.

The comments come as part of the payments industry debate over whether stablecoins will erode card networks or develop alongside them. In its latest commentary, OwlTing said the market had overstated the risk of stablecoins replacing cards at checkout.

The group pointed to Visa's activity as evidence that established networks are preparing for a model in which both systems coexist. Visa launched a platform for banks and fintechs to mint, move, redeem and manage stablecoins, which OwlTing described as a sign of where card networks see the market heading.

OwlTing also highlighted its expanded collaboration with Visa to support Visa Direct within OwlPay, its payment infrastructure. Under the arrangement, debit cards used by consumers in the US connect to stablecoin rails, allowing cards to be used at the start and end of a transaction while a stablecoin handles settlement in between.

According to OwlTing, that model reflects the practical distinction between the two systems. Cards, it said, are primarily a way to access credit under terms set by an issuing bank and card network, while stablecoins are a settlement tool rather than a lending product.

"Cards and stablecoins do not compete for the same job," said Darren Wang, Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Director of OwlTing.

The argument goes to the economics of card networks. OwlTing said their value lies not only in moving money, but in the rules governing who pays, how fraud is handled and what happens when a charge is disputed. In that view, a card transaction is less about pure money movement than about a framework for underwriting, risk allocation and recourse.

By contrast, stablecoins do not extend credit. Faster settlement alone does not replace lending, leaving cards and stablecoins in different positions in the payments chain.

Checkout maths

OwlTing cited Visa figures to highlight the current scale gap between the two models. Visa reported about USD $5 billion in stablecoin-linked card volume in 2025, compared with USD $14.2 trillion moved across its broader network, OwlTing said.

Those numbers suggest rapid growth from a small base rather than a direct challenge to the existing card system. Looking at only one figure would give an incomplete picture of the market, OwlTing said.

The company also pointed to wider market data showing total stablecoin supply near USD $300 billion. Even at that size, it said, only a small share of activity takes place at physical or online checkouts, with much of current usage concentrated elsewhere.

That, OwlTing argued, helps explain why stablecoins have gained traction in cross-border and treasury activity rather than everyday consumer purchases. It said the technology is better suited to finality, weekend transfers, programmable transactions and international payments than to replacing a consumer credit card at the till.

Examples included supplier payments made outside banking hours, payouts to freelancers across multiple countries and remittances through corridors where banks are slow or foreign exchange costs are high. In each case, stablecoins can shorten settlement times, while cards and banks still provide entry and exit points for users.

OwlTing described its Visa Direct integration in those terms. An eligible US user can fund USDC with a debit card, send the value across its infrastructure as a stablecoin, and have the payment reach the recipient through another Visa debit card, a local bank deposit or cash collection at a MoneyGram counter, it said.

What could shift

Despite that argument, OwlTing said two developments could still change the balance between cards and stablecoins. One is US routing legislation aimed at increasing competition in credit card processing. The other is the growth of agentic commerce, in which artificial intelligence systems initiate and route transactions.

Legislation such as the Credit Card Competition Act could put pressure on interchange fees if it advances as supporters intend, OwlTing said. That, in turn, could reduce the revenue issuers use to fund rewards programmes, weakening one of the incentives that keeps consumers using card-based systems.

Such a change could make merchant wallets or retailer-issued tokens easier to promote, OwlTing said. Retailers including Walmart and Amazon have been reported to be exploring stablecoins, although neither has announced a launch or integrated stablecoin acceptance into checkout flows.

Agentic commerce, however, was described as the larger uncertainty. OwlTing said it is building wallet infrastructure for AI agents and argued that software-driven buyers would make payment choices based on cost, speed and settlement terms rather than consumer loyalty schemes.

Even then, AI-led payments would still require identity checks, authorisation, spending limits, fraud controls and dispute rules, the company said. Those functions, it argued, are the kinds of network rules that card systems have long provided.

"An AI agent does not care about airline miles and can route a payment according to cost, speed and settlement conditions rather than habit," said Wang.

In markets where card use remains limited, stablecoins could develop a different role. OwlTing noted that in countries with high inflation or weak local payment infrastructure, stablecoins may compete less with cards and more with cash, unstable currencies and unreliable domestic systems.

Visa has cited economies including Argentina and Nigeria as places where stablecoins address access to stable value. For OwlTing, that reinforces its central claim that stablecoins are not displacing card networks so much as taking on tasks those networks were not designed to handle.

"Stablecoins aren't writing an obituary for the card networks. They are taking on work the card networks were never built to do," said Wang.