Pavel Matveev has cautioned crypto founders and fintech teams against building stablecoin card infrastructure from scratch, arguing that most underestimate the scale, cost, and regulatory complexity involved.
Speaking from experience at Wirex, Matveev said the firm spent over a decade assembling its full payments stack, including banking relationships, compliance systems, licensing, card network access, and settlement infrastructure. The company claims it has processed over $850 million in transactions while holding dual principal memberships with Visa and Mastercard.
He noted that many startups misjudge the effort required, believing stablecoin card programs can be launched through simple API integrations, when in reality they require deep coordination across multiple financial systems.
— Pavel Matveev (@matveevp) April 14, 2026
Stablecoin card infrastructure is the system that lets users spend crypto like USDC or USDT in real-world payments by instantly converting it into fiat at the point of sale, making it usable at millions of merchants through Visa or Mastercard networks. It works through a mix of card issuers, compliance systems (KYC/AML), blockchain networks, and real-time conversion engines that handle instant swaps between crypto and fiat while connecting wallets to traditional payment rails.
Card networks, banking, and compliance form the real bottleneck
Matveev highlighted that securing direct relationships with card networks such as Visa and Mastercard can take years and significant capital investment. Without principal membership, companies must rely on third-party issuers, limiting control over approval rates, fees, and expansion timelines.
He also pointed to the difficulty of building multi-bank infrastructure for fiat settlement, noting that each banking partnership requires extensive due diligence, technical integration, and regulatory alignment. In addition, compliance systems must operate across jurisdictions with real-time transaction monitoring and reporting obligations.
Settlement infrastructure was described as another critical challenge, requiring liquidity systems capable of handling real-time conversion between fiat and stablecoins across multiple currencies. According to Matveev, most early-stage firms overlook this layer entirely.
Shift toward integrated infrastructure platforms
Wirex positions its infrastructure-as-a-service offering as an alternative, claiming that partners can launch fully functional card and banking products in under 44 days through a single integration.
The system includes Visa card issuance, multi-currency accounts, stablecoin settlement, and integrated KYC flows. The company says this approach significantly reduces onboarding time compared to building independent infrastructure, which can take 18 months or more.
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