Guide
How to Launch a Stablecoin Card Program
Issuers, economics, custody, and what you still have to run yourself.
Stablecoin cards processed $1.37 billion in October 2026, three times as much as a year earlier, and more teams are asking how to launch their own. Issuers pitch launches in weeks with a single partner and no traction minimum; in practice it takes longer, and every issuer charges a monthly minimum.
This guide works through the decisions in the order a first-time program manager meets them, using data from the 30+ card programs Paymentscan tracks and answers from Wirex, Stripe, StraitsX, and Interlace.
With insights from
Look inside
Key numbers
- $660KMonthly spend of the median new program six months after launch
- ~3 monthsTo a first live card in practice; physical cards take longer
- $250KRealistic launch budget, against the $100,000 often quoted
What's inside
Where a stablecoin card fits
Neobank, add-on, or micro bank: what you are building decides your economics and how much of the stack you own.
Can and should you launch?
What issuers require in traction, prefunding, team, and time to market, what new programs actually reach, and when traditional issuing still wins.
Economics
Interchange by market, the fees and cashback that offset it, and revenue beyond it, with two programs modelled over their first 24 months.
Markets and currencies
Issuer coverage, local issuance, multi-currency settlement, and where FX costs come from.
Choosing an issuer
What issuers bundle and offer beyond the card, ten criteria, the questions to ask, and side-by-side snapshots of issuers including Wirex, Stripe, StraitsX, and Interlace.
What you build and run yourself
Who provides each layer of the program, funding and custody models, and the team you need after launch.
Checklist
Eleven things to have answered before your first issuer call, plus a glossary.