Mesh Visa crypto spending deal targets 175 million merchants

The Mesh Visa crypto spending partnership, announced on Monday, Oct. 19, aims to turn digital-asset balances into everyday purchasing power. Crypto payments network Mesh said participating wallet apps will be able to pay in stores and online from crypto, stablecoin or fiat balances anywhere Visa is accepted, spanning more than 175 million merchant locations in over 200 countries and territories.

What happened

The mechanics sit behind the screen. A Visa credential is provisioned inside the wallet, so a user taps at a normal contactless terminal or checks out online without first selling, transferring or preloading funds. Mesh handles funding and conversion at the moment of payment, and the merchant receives a standard Visa transaction with no new hardware. "We think your money should be spendable right where it already lives," said Mesh chief executive Bam Azizi.

Mesh will act as program manager, taking on customer onboarding and know-your-customer checks, so platforms can offer spending without building and operating their own card program. Mesh also manages identity verification and payment orchestration. The company says more than 200 enterprises already use its network, and it lists partners including Kalshi, Tools for Humanity, Felix Pago, Majority and KAST.

Key details are missing. Initial availability, supported devices and the first participating platforms will be announced as rollout plans are finalized, Mesh said. In January the company raised $75 million in a round led by Dragonfly that valued it at $1 billion, Cointelegraph reported.

Why it matters

The pitch targets crypto's last mile. Mesh cites Crypto.com research putting global crypto owners at 774 million as of June 2026, while American Banker estimated crypto card volumes at about $1.5 billion a month by late 2025. Visa, by contrast, handled $14.2 trillion in payments volume in fiscal 2025.

"Crypto never had a spending problem — it has a last-mile problem," Azizi said. Visa's global head of growth, Rubail Birwadker, said people now expect to use their money where and how they like, and that the tie-up "helps expand how digital asset balances can connect to the trusted payment experiences consumers and merchants rely on every day."

For Visa, the Mesh Visa crypto spending model adds another stablecoin channel next to card issuers and settlement pilots. Visa is also working with Bridge, the Stripe-owned stablecoin platform, to roll out Visa cards tied to stablecoins in over 100 countries. Last week it expanded stablecoin prefunding on Visa Direct, while issuers such as Marqeta are building stablecoin-linked cards on Base.

What's next

Open questions remain for users. Mesh has not published conversion rates or fees, and it has not said which wallets will go first. Merchants, meanwhile, see only an ordinary card payment and need no new hardware or checkout changes. The partnership also follows a Mesh integration with Bybit Pay in September that let users spend from exchange balances.

Watch for the first wallets to switch the feature on and for any disclosed transaction volumes. The Mesh announcement leaves launch timing open, so the Mesh Visa crypto spending test will come when real users start tapping.