Maybe I’m just being targeted with more card offers, but between my experience and research for a small payments project, I’m seeing more crypto companies roll out traditional-looking cards. It’s a smart strategy: crypto is still cryptic, so familiar packaging becomes a Trojan Horse into the market. People have been talking crypto-card growth spurts for years (see i2c in 2022), and some still call it a slow roll, especially after multiple “crypto winters.” However, it feels the pace is picking up, so I dug in and wrote up why.

What’s changed? This article is my take, part as crypto enthusiast, but mostly through a strategic product lens. The bigger picture is an industry that’s enjoyed near-unchallenged dominance for decades, and suddenly the landscape is getting complicated. Card networks remain entrenched, but the last few years added simultaneous pressure from regulation, real-time bank rails, and shifting consumer payment preferences, making the ecosystem materially more complex. It may look like the upstarts cooled off as the hype faded. I think that’s a dangerous assumption and a setup for surprise. Let’s look at what’s been happening and why I believe we’re closer to new inflection points than ever.

By the way, this isn’t a prediction that revolving credit disappears. Many find value in it regardless of how destructive it can be to personal wealth. This is more a prediction that the card bundle (payments + rewards + account relationship) shifts to wallets, leaving traditional issuers with less pricing power.

TL;DR Spoiler: You don’t have to do anything just yet. Though you may want to explore as a consumer to see if you can get better rewards. As a merchant, just keep an eye out for evolution here. Customers may abandon shopping carts or avoid you if you don’t offer their payment method.

That’s it. Stop right here!

However, I believe in deeper holistic and strategic marketplaces views. So if you want the long form in-depth reasoning, here you go…

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