Bitcoin now settles Visa-scale volumes, but most is for wholesale, not coffee

Bitcoin settled $6.9 trillion in the past 90 days as a growing alternative to traditional settlement networks, but its global merchant adoption remains only a fraction of international giants.

Bitcoin and US dollar–pegged stablecoins are emerging as a global alternative for moving value across borders without banks and card networks, as the Bitcoin network’s settlement volume begins to rival the world’s largest payment giants.

Bitcoin (BTC) settled $6.9 trillion worth of payments over the past 90 days, which is “on par with or above Visa and Mastercard,” according to blockchain data platform Glassnode’s digital asset research report for the fourth quarter of 2025, published on Wednesday.

Over the same period, Visa processed $4.25 trillion in payment volume and Mastercard $2.63 trillion, for a combined $6.88 trillion, according to the report.

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