Visa Crypto Card Volume Hits $91.3M Amid Market Fear: Daily Crypto Analysis

VADODARA, January 5, 2026 — Payment volume for cryptocurrency cards issued through Visa partnerships surged 525% in 2025, reaching $91.3 million in December according to Dune Analytics data, yet this growth occurs against a backdrop of extreme market fear and potential order block exhaustion. This daily crypto analysis examines whether the narrative of mainstream adoption masks underlying liquidity dynamics.

Market Context & Background

Historical cycles suggest payment volume spikes often precede market corrections when detached from broader on-chain fundamentals. The 2021 bull run saw similar card adoption metrics that later revealed themselves as retail FOMO peaks. According to the Federal Reserve's payments research, traditional card networks typically experience 5-10% annual growth in stable economic conditions—making this 525% surge an outlier requiring forensic examination. Market structure indicates this may represent a Fair Value Gap (FVG) in adoption metrics versus actual blockchain utility.

What Happened?

According to data from Dune Analytics, payment volume for six types of crypto cards issued through Visa partnerships increased from $14.6 million in January 2025 to $91.3 million in December 2025. The card offered by Ether.fi (ETHFI) dominated with $55.4 million in payments, representing approximately 60.7% of total volume. This data, originally reported by Cointelegraph, shows concentrated adoption rather than broad-based growth across multiple blockchain projects.

Technical Analysis & Price Action

Market structure suggests the Visa volume spike coincides with Bitcoin testing resistance at $92,390 amid Fear sentiment scoring 26/100. The Volume Profile indicates thin liquidity above $95,000, creating potential for a gamma squeeze if institutional flows materialize. Bullish invalidation sits at $88,500 (61.8% Fibonacci support), while bearish invalidation requires a break above $96,200 to confirm sustained momentum. On-chain data from Glassnode shows declining network activity despite card usage growth—a contradiction that warrants skepticism.

By The Numbers

Why It Matters

Institutionally, this data suggests payment networks are capturing crypto transaction flow despite regulatory uncertainty, potentially creating off-chain settlement layers that compete with native blockchain throughput. For retail, concentrated adoption in Ether.fi's card indicates winner-take-all dynamics rather than decentralized growth—a pattern that could lead to single-point failures in the payment infrastructure. The divergence between card volume growth and underlying blockchain metrics (like daily active addresses) suggests possible reporting artifacts or temporary promotional spikes.

Community Sentiment

Market analysts on X/Twitter express cautious optimism, with some noting that "card volume doesn't equal blockchain adoption" while others highlight the potential for Visa's infrastructure to onboard traditional users. Bulls point to the growth as validation of crypto's utility, though quantitative models suggest the $91.3 million figure represents less than 0.02% of Visa's total payment volume—raising questions about material impact.

Price Prediction / Future Outlook

Bullish Case: If card volume growth sustains above $100 million monthly and correlates with increasing on-chain activity, payment-focused altcoins could see revaluation. A break above Bitcoin's $96,200 resistance would confirm institutional accumulation and potentially drive a short squeeze toward $102,000.

Bearish Case: If this volume represents a liquidity grab by early adopters rather than organic growth, a reversion to mean could see card volumes drop below $50 million by Q2 2026. Bitcoin breaking $88,500 support would trigger stop-loss cascades and expose the $82,000 volume gap.