On May 22, the global economy continued to be pressured by both inflation and geopolitical conflicts. The US April CPI rose 3.8% year-on-year, a near three-year high, while the PPI surged to 6.0% year-on-year. Energy, transportation, and trade service costs continued to rise, and the impact of oil prices is being transmitted to the cost chain of enterprises. Japan's April PPI rose more than expected by 4.9% year-on-year, pushing the 10-year Japanese government bond yield close to 2.7%, the 10-year US Treasury yield stabilized at 4.5%, and the 30-year US Treasury yield broke through 5%, triggering a collective sell-off in the global bond market. The situation in Iran remained deadlocked, and Brent crude oil rose to approximately $109 per barrel. Regarding China and the US, on May 14, the two heads of state reached a constructive consensus in Beijing, achieving positive results on tariff arrangements, agricultural market access, and the expansion of two-way trade, effectively alleviating global uncertainty.
While traditional financial systems are under pressure from high inflation and high oil prices, Tether's payment network is expanding against the trend, pushing the "digital dollar" from exchange-based tools into everyday consumption. According to the latest data from Memento Research, monthly spending on crypto payment cards has risen to $600 million, a six-fold increase from a year ago, with March setting a new monthly high of $606 million; cumulative on-chain transaction volume reached $7.2 billion, with 24 million transactions completed, involving 1.36 million unique wallet addresses. Of these, 62.5% of the transaction volume was settled primarily with USDT, and the Visa network processed approximately 90% of crypto card transactions, with this proportion surging to 97% in March alone. Globally, there are over 172 million independent stablecoin holders, USDT's market share reaches 58.76%, and the number of monthly active on-chain users has reached 24.8 million. Stablecoin payments are officially moving from exchange-based settlements into everyday offline consumption scenarios.
**Game Top-ups:** Through cryptocurrency e-commerce platforms like Bitrefill, players can directly purchase gift cards for mainstream games such as Steam, Discord, and PUBG using USDT. Users select USDT for payment via low-fee networks (Polygon, BNB Chain, etc.). After transaction confirmation, the system instantly sends a digital redemption code, which can be redeemed within the game or app to complete the top-up. No bank account is required throughout the process, which takes less than 2 minutes.
**iPhone and iPad Purchases:** USDT holders can link their USDT balance to Apple Pay using crypto debit cards like Gate Card. The Gate Card is a Visa Platinum debit card that directly deducts from the USDT balance in the Gate.io spot account. It supports NFC-based contactless payments at over 130 million Visa merchants worldwide, enabling real-time cryptocurrency-to-fiat currency conversion. After linking the card to Apple Wallet, shoppers can select the card at Apple's checkout website. The payment gateway automatically converts USDT to fiat currency at the real-time exchange rate and settles with Apple. Merchants receive fiat currency throughout the process, and the consumer's payment experience is identical to that of a regular bank card.
**Buying a Tesla:** The same encrypted card mechanism applies to large-scale car purchases. Gate Card supports payments at any merchant worldwide that accepts Visa—including Tesla's official website and physical stores. The system automatically converts USDT to fiat currency instantly upon transaction, with the merchant receiving fiat currency throughout the process. Daily spending limits are up to $500,000, and monthly limits are up to $1.5 million, providing ample funds for large-scale car purchases. Gate Card offers cashback ranging from 1% to 5%, distributed as points that can be redeemed for digital assets such as USDT and BTC. Through the encrypted card network, USDT's spending scope has expanded from game cards to high-value durable consumer goods such as electronics and automobiles.
Tether's purchasing power advantage lies in fundamentally avoiding the friction costs of the traditional financial system. On low-fee blockchain networks like TRC-20, USDT transfer confirmation takes less than one minute with a fee of only about $1, while traditional SWIFT cross-border remittances take 3 to 5 days and incur fees as high as 3% to 7%. As high inflation continues to erode the purchasing power of fiat currencies, the closed-loop crypto payment card system—from Bitrefill game top-ups to Gate card-linked Apple Pay purchases of iPhones, and even Tesla purchases—is building a new consumption channel independent of the traditional banking system for 172 million stablecoin holders worldwide.
## 📌 Brief Summary
1. **Global Inflation Escalates, Oil Prices Remain High:** US April CPI rose 3.8% year-on-year, and PPI surged to 6.0% year-on-year; Brent crude oil was around $109 per barrel, and the 10-year US Treasury yield remained stable at 4.5%.
2. **US-China Trade Relations Stabilize:** The meeting between the two heads of state in Beijing reached constructive consensus on tariff arrangements and agricultural trade, effectively mitigating global uncertainty and tail risks.
3. **Monthly Crypto Payment Card Spending Reaches $600 Million:** A six-fold increase year-on-year; cumulative on-chain transaction volume reached $7.2 billion, with 24 million transactions completed and 1.36 million wallet addresses involved.
4. **USDT accounts for 62.5% of crypto card settlements**, with Visa processing approximately 90% of transactions, reaching as high as 97% in March alone.
5. **Game Top-ups**: Platforms like Bitrefill support purchasing Steam, PUBG, Discord, and other gift cards with USDT, which arrives in your account within 2 minutes and can be redeemed immediately.
6. **Purchasing iPhones/iPads**: Crypto debit cards like Gate.com are linked to Apple Pay, enabling real-time USDT-to-fiat currency settlement at over 130 million Visa merchants worldwide.
7. **Purchasing Teslas**: Crypto card payments are processed directly, with a daily limit of up to $500,000 and a monthly limit of $1.5 million. USDT is automatically converted to fiat currency in the background for settlement.
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