Crypto
OKX Card Usage Jumps 280% as Europe Spends Crypto on Daily Needs
OKX Card spending in Europe surged 280% as users increasingly use crypto for groceries, transport, fuel, and everyday purchases.
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BLOCKINSIDERLoadingOKX Card spending in Europe surged 280% as users increasingly use crypto for groceries, transport, fuel, and everyday purchases.
Crypto spending in Europe is moving beyond trading as OKX Card purchase volume surged 280% year over year this summer. The rise was led by everyday purchases, with groceries, transport and fuel seeing strong growth across major European markets, pointing to a wider shift toward using digital assets in daily life.
OKX said on August 19, 2026, that purchase volume on its OKX Card across Europe rose 280% year over year, while the number of transactions increased 178%.
The growth is not limited to occasional crypto spending. OKX data shows users are increasingly using the card for groceries, transport and fuel.
Across Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and France, the number of monthly users making grocery purchases increased 65% between February and July. The pace became much stronger from May to July, when grocery users jumped 221%.
Transport and fuel usage grew even faster, with the number of customers using the card for these purchases rising 263% during the same period.
Purchase volumes also showed a sharp increase. Grocery spending climbed 482% between May and July, while transport and fuel spending jumped 530%.
That suggests the growth is coming from both more users and existing customers using the card more often.
Poland stands out among the four markets tracked by OKX.
Everyday categories, including groceries, transport and utilities, account for 31.7% of OKX Card spending in Poland. The share is lower in the Netherlands at 22.2%, followed by Germany at 20.4% and France at 14.1%.
Groceries are the most common everyday category across these markets, making up between 9.5% and 19.3% of spending.
OKX's earlier Europe data also showed that food-related purchases already made up 44% of all card transactions between January 28 and February 26. Groceries alone accounted for 26%, while restaurants represented 12%.
The newer figures suggest that this pattern has continued and expanded into other basic spending areas.
Erald Ghoos, CEO of OKX Europe, said the important change is not simply that customers are spending more, but “what they're spending on.”
He pointed to groceries, transport and fuel as signs that digital assets are becoming part of normal payment habits rather than being used mainly for investment.
OKX's growth comes as the wider crypto card market is also expanding.
According to data highlighted by a16z crypto and Paymentscan, crypto payment cards processed about $759 million in purchase volume in July, up from $306 million a year earlier. Nearly 9 million transactions were recorded, with an average purchase of roughly $86.
Stablecoins are driving much of this activity. USDC and USDT together accounted for 84% of July's crypto card spending, showing that users are increasingly choosing dollar-backed assets for payments.
The growth is significant compared with October 2023, when tracked crypto card spending was below $1 million per month.
This does not mean crypto cards are close to replacing traditional payment networks. However, the steady rise shows that stablecoins are finding a practical use outside exchanges and DeFi platforms.
The OKX Card connects crypto balances with the existing Mastercard payment network.
Users can fund their OKX Pay account with supported assets, including USDC and USDG. When a purchase is made, the crypto is converted into local fiat through the payment system, allowing merchants to receive regular card payment.
The card launched across the European Economic Area on January 28, 2026. OKX says it can be used wherever Mastercard is accepted, both online and in stores.
This model removes one of the biggest barriers to crypto payments: merchants do not need to directly accept cryptocurrency.
For users, the experience is closer to using a regular payment card, while the funding source is still in the form of digital assets.
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