Optimism Gains as Ether.fi Expands Crypto Cards

Ether.fi is migrating its fast growing crypto card and payments platform to Optimism OP Mainnet, shifting 70,000 active cards and more than 300,000 accounts into the Superchain ecosystem.

Key Takeaways

• Ether.fi Cash is moving from Scroll to Optimism OP Mainnet over the coming months.
• Around 70,000 active cards and 300,000 accounts are part of the migration.
• The app processes about $2 million in daily spend volume and 28,000 spend transactions per day.
• Ether.fi will absorb all gas fees for card users, ensuring a seamless transition.

What Happened?

Ether.fi announced plans to migrate its payments infrastructure, including Ether.fi Cash, to Optimism OP Mainnet. The move shifts millions in user Total Value Locked and all active card operations away from Scroll.

The company said the transition will happen gradually over the coming months, positioning Optimism as its long term infrastructure partner for global crypto payments.

A Major Payments Migration

The migration represents one of the largest consumer focused shifts between Layer 2 networks this year. Ether.fi Cash currently supports approximately 70,000 active crypto cards and more than 300,000 user accounts. The platform processes roughly 2,000 internal swaps and 28,000 spend transactions daily, averaging $2 million in daily card spend volume.

Ether.fi cards now facilitate nearly half of all crypto native card transactions. That scale makes infrastructure reliability and liquidity depth critical.

Originally known for asset restaking, Ether.fi pivoted into consumer payments in 2024. Ether.fi Cash allows users to spend stablecoins or borrow against staked assets such as eETH to fund real world Visa purchases. The product blends a savings account model with decentralized finance infrastructure under the hood, operating in a non custodial framework.

Why Optimism?

Ether.fi cited access to a larger DeFi ecosystem and deeper liquidity as key reasons for the move. Liquidity depth directly impacts capital efficiency, particularly for swaps that convert crypto into fiat at the point of sale. Optimized liquidity pools can reduce slippage and improve transaction execution for users.

By joining Optimism as part of an OP Enterprise partnership, Ether.fi gains:

• Established liquidity and users from day one.
• Enterprise grade support on a public network.
• A dedicated account manager for technical guidance.
• Shared codebase tooling across OP Stack chains.
• Priority access to new upgrades and features.

Optimism also emphasized its transaction scale. In the second half of 2025, the OP Stack processed 3.6 billion transactions, accounting for 13 percent of all crypto transactions during that period. OP Mainnet has positioned itself as a hub for DeFi and consumer applications within the broader Superchain ecosystem.

User Experience and Incentives

For end users, the migration is designed to be seamless. Ether.fi confirmed that gas fees and network costs for card transactions will be fully absorbed by the protocol, both during and after the transition. This removes friction and protects user experience during infrastructure changes.

The move also unlocks expanded incentives. Ether.fi users will gain access to OP token rewards in addition to the platform’s existing programs, which include 3 percent or more cashback, travel discounts, membership tiers, lounge access, free metal cards, and in app campaigns.

The company said transaction metrics have doubled approximately every two months since launch, signaling rapid adoption. Operational stability and infrastructure maturity are critical at that pace, particularly in light of recent volatility seen across other DeFi platforms.

A Competitive Layer 2 Landscape

The migration highlights growing competition among Layer 2 networks for high volume consumer applications. While Scroll offers zero knowledge rollup advantages, Ether.fi appears to have prioritized liquidity, ecosystem scale, and enterprise level support for its payments use case.

For Optimism, onboarding a high growth payments platform strengthens its position as a leading chain for real world crypto spending activity.

CoinLaw’s Takeaway

In my view, this is more than just a technical migration. It signals where serious consumer crypto infrastructure is consolidating. Payments require stability, deep liquidity, and predictable costs. Ether.fi clearly believes Optimism delivers that at scale.

I found the decision to absorb all gas fees especially important. In my experience, users abandon products the moment friction increases. By removing cost uncertainty, Ether.fi protects its growth momentum while strengthening token utility and potential protocol revenue.

If transaction volumes continue doubling every two months, this move could quietly turn Optimism into one of the most important rails for global onchain payments.

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