a16z: 9 Charts Reveal the Future Evolution of Stablecoins

Written by Robert Hackett and Jeremy Zhang, a16z crypto

Compiled by Chopper, Foresight News

For many years, stablecoins have been seeking their core purpose.

Initially, it was merely a transactional tool used to transfer U.S. dollar assets between major exchanges. Later, stablecoins evolved into a savings instrument, becoming assets people hold long-term rather than use for everyday spending. Today, data points to a new direction: stablecoins are becoming the core global financial infrastructure.

The following nine charts illustrate the underlying trends driving this transformation.

For much of the stablecoin industry’s development, regulatory uncertainty has long restricted institutional capital from entering. With the passage of the GENIUS Act, the regulatory framework is becoming clearer. The Act does not create the industry trend but accelerates its momentum.

Changes in stablecoin trading volume before and after the passage of the GENIUS Act

The United States enacted the GENIUS Act, establishing for the first time a federal regulatory framework for stablecoin issuance. Data trends clearly reflect the policy's impact: several quarters before the law took effect, adjusted stablecoin trading volumes had already been steadily rising; after its implementation, growth accelerated further, reaching approximately $4.5 trillion in the first quarter of 2026.

MiCA has driven the non-US dollar stablecoin market

The implementation of the European crypto asset regulatory framework, the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, has presented a more complex situation. After MiCA fully took effect at the end of 2024, several major exchanges delisted USDT due to compliance reasons, directly driving a short-term surge in non-US dollar stablecoin trading volumes, which peaked above $40 billion.

Market trading volume subsequently stabilized, with the overall base significantly higher than before MiCA’s implementation, and monthly trading volumes consistently ranging between $15 billion and $25 billion. The new regulatory framework has created a previously nearly nonexistent demand for non-U.S. dollar stablecoins.

The most significant shift in market structure may lie in how people are actually using stablecoins.

Stablecoin business payments are concentrated in the C2C sector.

In terms of transaction volume, peer-to-peer (C2C) transactions lead significantly, reaching 789.5 million transactions for the full year of 2025. Meanwhile, peer-to-merchant (C2B) transactions experienced the fastest growth, increasing from 124.9 million transactions in 2024 to 284.6 million in 2025, a year-over-year increase of 128%.

Growth trend of stablecoin payment card infrastructure

Data on stablecoin payment cards also confirms this trend.

The stablecoin payment card projects leveraging Rain technology—including Etherfi Cash, Kast, and Wallbit—saw monthly collateral deposits surge from nearly zero in November 2024 to over $300 million per month by early 2026. Although this capital represents collateral for payment spending rather than direct stablecoin consumption, its growth trajectory is highly indicative: commercial payment use cases for stablecoins are experiencing a full-scale rise.

The velocity of circulation for each dollar of stablecoin is continuously increasing.

Stablecoin velocity trend

Since the beginning of 2024, the velocity of stablecoins (adjusted monthly transfer volume divided by circulating market cap) has nearly doubled, rising from 2.6x to 6x. The increased velocity indicates that demand for stablecoin transactions has outpaced the rate of new issuance, significantly improving the efficiency of existing capital utilization.

This is also a core characteristic of mature payment networks: the underlying currency is actively used rather than passively held.

Excluding activities such as trading, fund flows, and exchange mechanisms—which constitute the majority of stablecoin transactions—the estimated payments between different parties last year ranged from $350 billion to $550 billion.

B2B stablecoin payments dominate.

Business-to-business (B2B) remains the core driver of stablecoin payments, maintaining the largest volume. Meanwhile, niche use cases such as peer-to-peer transfers and merchant payments are rapidly expanding.

Geographically, stablecoin payment activity is unevenly distributed.

Asia is the primary region for stablecoin payments.

Nearly two-thirds of trading volume comes from Asia, primarily from Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan.

North America accounts for approximately one-quarter of the market, while Europe accounts for about 13%. Latin America and Africa combined represent a very small share, totaling less than $1 billion overall.

The rise of non-U.S. dollar stablecoins is not unique to Europe; emerging markets are also rapidly adopting them, driven by distinct rationales.

Monthly transfer volume changes of the Brazilian Real-pegged stablecoin BRLA

Brazil is a clear example. The monthly trading volume of BRLA, a stablecoin backed by the Brazilian real, grew from nearly zero at the beginning of 2023 to approximately $400 million at the beginning of 2026, with integration into Brazil’s instant payment network, PIX, significantly driving BRLA’s adoption.

The cross-border payment capability of stablecoins is weakening.

For a long time, stablecoins have been commonly defined as cross-border tools, but the actual share of cross-border transactions has been continuously declining.

The share of domestic trading rose from about 50% at the beginning of 2024 to nearly 70% at the beginning of 2026. This shift sends a clear signal: the core value of stablecoins is no longer limited to cross-border remittances and foreign exchange; they are increasingly evolving into localized, everyday payment tools built on global underlying networks.

When all data is synthesized, a clear picture of the industry has emerged—one that sharply contradicts previous public assumptions: it was widely believed that the core value of stablecoins lay in cross-border transfers. In reality, stablecoins are undergoing deep localization. While USD-backed stablecoins still dominate, they are not merely tools for exporting the dollar. Non-dollar stablecoins backed by local fiat currencies such as the euro and the Brazilian real are steadily gaining market share.

Although peer-to-peer transfers remain the primary use case for stablecoins, the share of everyday commercial payments is steadily increasing.

Quarterly data continues to affirm that stablecoins are gradually evolving into a universal public payment infrastructure. Born with global attributes, their real-world applications are becoming increasingly localized.

The industry is still in its early stages, but the ultimate form and development landscape of stablecoins are becoming increasingly clear.