Bitcoin Rivals Visa, Mastercard with $6.9T Settlement Volume

The digital asset landscape witnessed a seismic shift in the final quarter of 2025, as blockchain data from Glassnode revealed Bitcoin’s settlement capacity now operates on the same scale as the world’s largest payment processors. According to the firm’s digital asset research report, the Bitcoin network settled a staggering $6.9 trillion worth of payments over the past 90 days. This figure places it directly in competition with established financial infrastructure, being “on par with or above” the volumes processed by Visa and Mastercard during the same period.

The report provides a direct comparison to underscore this new reality. Over the identical 90-day window, Visa processed $4.25 trillion in payment volume, while Mastercard handled $2.63 trillion. Their combined total of $6.88 trillion is virtually identical to the $6.9 trillion settled on the Bitcoin blockchain. This parity marks a watershed moment, demonstrating that Bitcoin’s underlying network has matured into a high-throughput value transfer system capable of handling trillions of dollars outside the conventional banking rails.

This surge in settlement volume is not occurring in isolation. Glassnode’s analysis positions Bitcoin, alongside US dollar–pegged stablecoins, as an emerging global alternative for moving value across borders. The core proposition is the ability to facilitate these transfers without the intermediation of traditional banks and card networks like Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA). This represents a fundamental challenge to the incumbent model, particularly for international transactions where traditional systems can be slow, costly, and inaccessible to some.

The synergy between Bitcoin’s robust, decentralized settlement layer and the price stability offered by dollar-pegged stablecoins is creating a powerful new paradigm. While Bitcoin provides the secure, permissionless backbone for final settlement, stablecoins offer a familiar unit of account for daily transactions. Together, they form a compelling package for users and institutions seeking efficiency and autonomy in cross-border finance, directly contributing to the multi-trillion-dollar volume now flowing through these digital channels.

Despite this monumental achievement in raw settlement value, Glassnode’s report presents a crucial caveat: Bitcoin’s global merchant adoption remains “only a fraction” of that enjoyed by international giants like Visa and Mastercard. This highlights a critical distinction between the network’s technical capacity as a settlement layer and its current role in consumer-facing, point-of-sale commerce. The $6.9 trillion volume is driven largely by large-value transfers, institutional activity, and capital flows rather than everyday retail purchases.

This dichotomy defines Bitcoin’s current phase of evolution. The network has proven it can compete with the world’s largest payment processors on one key metric—total settled value. However, it has not yet achieved comparable penetration into the physical and online checkout experiences that define Visa and Mastercard’s dominance. The path forward involves bridging this gap, transforming the network’s backend settlement prowess into front-end utility for merchants and consumers worldwide. For now, the data confirms Bitcoin’s arrival as a settlement titan, even as its journey toward widespread retail adoption continues.