Stablecoin Market Size and Adoption

I’ve been closely tracking how stablecoins will change payments since I worked on Project Hamilton at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Stablecoin adoption always seemed a few years away, but they have finally arrived. Stablecoins are an onchain store of value and a medium of exchange, but for most users they are an onchain dollar, redeemable for a dollar. Stablecoins have found product market fit – they're a nearly free, nearly instant, infinitely flexible payments platform. There are over $160B stablecoins issued & stablecoins were used for 2x the volume of the Visa network! ($8.5T v $3.9T in Q2 '24). More than 60M wallets sent stablecoins that same quarter. By looking at 10 years of stablecoin history and 250 years of US banking history, specifically the evolution of money & bank deposits - we can peak into the future of stablecoin adoption Fiat-backed stablecoins like USDC or USDT mimic old National Bank Notes -- a bearer note redeemable for a stable asset like a bond or specie. Asset-backed stablecoins (stablecoins created by lending protocols) extend the onchain money supply -- similar to how the traditional money supply is extended by bank lending. There is also a new category of dollar token that we call a Strategy-backed Synthetic Dollar (SBSDs). SBSDs are a dollar share in an onchain hedge fund -- useful for investors, but less safe than a stablecoin or money in a bank deposit. There's a reason why regulators prevent bank deposits from being invested in hedge fund strategies -- to keep the money safe. But this analysis only takes us so far: Stablecoins are the cheapest way to send a dollar. Stablecoins can reset the market structure in the payments industry, creating opportunities for incumbents and for startups to build on a new platform of frictionless and cost-free payments! Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eSQNHyir -- None of the above should be taken as investment advice or an advertisement for investment services; see a16z.com/disclosures for further information.

Most people sleep on payment infrastructure changes. I've the last 6 months analyzing fintech and banking trends—payment rails are being completely rebuilt While attention focuses on AI and consumer apps, financial infrastructure undergoes historical transformation. The $1.1B acquisition of Bridge by Stripe marks a watershed moment for stablecoin payment rails. Three critical infrastructure shifts happening now: 1. Banks issuing blockchain-native stablecoins → JPMorgan processes billions monthly through JPM Coin, reducing settlement times by over 90% → Société Générale launched EURCV, powering €100M in tokenized bond issuances → Traditional banks now provide regulated infrastructure to fintech companies through Banking-as-a-Service models 2. Fintech embedding crypto rails → PayPal integrated PYUSD across 430M accounts globally → Stripe (via Bridge) enables merchants to accept stablecoins that settle as fiat → Total stablecoin market cap surpassed $200B in 2024, with monthly volumes exceeding $1.8T in November 3. Payment networks enabling blockchain settlements → Visa processed $3B in stablecoin payments in 2024, cutting cross-border fees substantially → Mastercard aims to reduce cross-border fees by up to 50% through blockchain settlements → These networks bridge traditional finance with digital assets The financial system's invisible plumbing undergoes reconstruction while consumer experiences remain largely unchanged. Companies leveraging this shift see 90% cost reduction in cross-border transfers (from 6.5% average fees to under 1%) This mirrors the cloud computing revolution: infrastructure changes precede application innovation. The total stablecoin market projects to reach $1.1T by 2035 Smart financial leaders position now for the massive efficiency advantages this shift creates

🚨 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 — 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹. Today we’re dropping our most comprehensive stablecoin report yet together with Fintech Blueprint (link below) Stablecoins aren’t a crypto sideshow anymore: • The stablecoin market cap hit $255B in July 2025, up 60% year-to-date • Moving $2.3T each month rivaling Visa & Mastercard and replacing yesterday’s payment rails. • Circle's IPO exploded, making it clear that Wall Street views stablecoins as core infrastructure • Every major bank is building on a stablecoin • Amazon and Walmart are corporate stablecoins • Bitwise Asset Management predicts the stablecoin market will double to $400B in 2025, while Citi projects $3.7T by 2030. Meanwhile, Stripe is quietly building the payment stack for the future of commerce, where AI agents transact autonomously at internet speed. After a decade in crypto, we’ve watched countless promises of "mainstream adoption" come and go. Is it different, this time? 𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝟱𝟬-𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁, 𝘄𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻: • The 5 killer use cases already saving billions • Full stablecoin vendor map (100+ players) • Amazon & Walmart’s stealth stablecoin strategy • Stripe's $1.1B Bridge and Privy acquisition strategy to own payment rails • Tether.io's $5B profit machine and surprise AI infrastructure play • ... and much more. 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵: • 200+ vendor ecosystem map with 51 Trust Score rankings • 90-day implementation playbook from pilot to scale • Strategic vendor selection framework • ...and much more. It is designed as both a strategic primer and an actionable guide for financial institutions, enterprises, fintech operators, and policy leaders. 🚨𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: https://lnkd.in/eieSkmdW Subscribe for future digital asset reports: www.51insights.xyz Lex Sokolin Sangam B. Reown Keyrails Kaiko Anastasia Melachrinos Maja Vujinovic Jess Houlgrave Berhan Kongel