TLDR Tech / Crypto
Why crypto cards cost 2% abroad
Most issuers settle with Visa/Mastercard in a single currency (usually USD), triggering cross-border assessment fees (~0.13-0.14% baseline, jumping with currency mismatch by up to 0.6%) plus FX spreads (0.1-0.4%), adding over 1% in network costs alone before issuer/program margin. Multi-currency settlement (registering several currencies with the network, the model Revolut/Wise pioneered) and local issuance (issuing cards domestically in each market so transactions never count as cross-border) are two potential workarounds here. Only a few stablecoin issuers like Wirex, StraitsX, and Monavate currently do either. Wirex's EURC settlement volume has grown from zero to ~$500M of Visa's $20B annualized stablecoin volume in a year. Structural and technical constraints (sponsor bank limitations, cost of reissuing card portfolios) explain why most others haven't caught up, though Stripe/Bridge and Rain say wider currency support is on their roadmap.
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