Crypto Neobanks Have Clocked Record $245M in Weekly Top-Ups

Key Insights:

• Crypto neobanks recorded more than $245 million in weekly card top-ups, a new all-time high.
• Weekly volume jumped 18% above the previous record, reflecting strong user demand.
• Experts warn that compliance failures, not weak adoption, could determine which neobanks survive.

Crypto neobanks are growing faster than ever, with weekly card top ups surpassing $245 million for the first time. While the record shows rising demand for crypto payment cards. But industry experts believe the biggest challenge is no longer attracting users but building the compliance systems needed to keep banking partners and card networks onboard.

Crypto Card Demand Reaches Milestone

Crypto-linked payment cards continue gaining popularity as more users spend digital assets for everyday purchases.

According to Paymentscan data, weekly crypto card top-ups recently crossed $245 million, the highest level ever recorded and around 18% higher than the previous peak.

The growth has accelerated sharply over the past year, showing that more consumers are using crypto payment cards for real-world transactions rather than simply holding digital assets.

The growth is also spread across the industry instead of being driven by a single company. Several card providers, including RedotPay, KAST, EtherFi, Plasma One, Karta, Tria, and others, have all contributed to the rising transaction volumes.

That suggests crypto banking services are becoming more mainstream as users look for easier ways to spend stablecoins and other digital assets.

Compliance Could Decide Who Survives

One industry expert, Criptolawyer, said that many crypto neobanks could disappear over the next 18 months, not because customers stop using them, but because they fail to meet growing compliance requirements.

Unlike traditional fintech products, crypto card programs depend on three key parties working together: the neobank, its issuing bank, and payment networks such as Visa or Mastercard.

If either the issuing bank or the card network loses confidence in a company's compliance controls, card services can stop almost immediately.

The industry has already seen several examples. Binance lost its Visa card program in Europe in July 2023, followed by the loss of Mastercard support in Latin America later that year.

More recently, crypto platform Ready informed some users that its card service would stop with only one hour's notice after problems with its issuer relationship.

Crypto Neobanks Want More Than Customer Growth

As crypto payment volumes continue rising, banks and payment networks are placing greater focus on compliance than on customer numbers.

Industry experts say financial partners increasingly expect companies to perform continuous sanctions screening, monitor suspicious transactions in real time, verify customer identities and maintain detailed audit records across every product they offer.

One example came from the U.K., where digital bank Starling Bank was slapped with a £29 million regulatory fine after authorities found serious weaknesses in its sanctions screening systems.

The case shows how compliance failures can become expensive, even for established financial institutions.

Crypto Products Struggle With Compliance

Compliance responsibilities extend far beyond issuing payment cards.

Evolving compliance requirements could potentially stifle growth, emphasizing the importance of clarity and comprehensiveness in crypto regulations.

Every time users buy crypto with traditional money, withdraw funds, earn yield or receive cashback rewards, companies must verify identities, monitor transactions and comply with different regulations across multiple countries.

As crypto products become more sophisticated, these requirements continue growing.

In Europe, for example, the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework limits how euro-denominated stablecoins can generate yield, pushing companies toward tokenized Treasury products and other regulated real-world assets instead of traditional stablecoin interest models.

The crypto industry has already experienced several major disruptions linked to payment infrastructure and compliance.

For the next generation of crypto neobanks, attracting users may no longer be the hardest part. Innovation is bound to produce new types of crypto products and compliance will have to evolve in parallel. The goal for countries will be to find the sweet spot between regulatory enforcement and encouraging innovation.