Author: Jesse Hemson Struthers, CEO and Founder of BVNK
Compiled by Jiahuan, ChainCatcher
Regarding stablecoins, there is currently a widely held view: they serve as a tool for individuals in emerging markets to hedge against currency volatility. This is indeed true and significant, but it is not the full picture.
Today at BVNK, we process $36 billion in annualized stablecoin trading volume. We are just one participant in this vast ecosystem, but our trading volume data reveals some interesting patterns that point to a three-stage evolution.
It all began in 2022, when brokerage platforms and their retail users started depositing stablecoins into their accounts. Today, enterprise-grade platforms are integrating stablecoin wallets directly into their products.
The third-stage evolution within 36 billion data points
Phase One (2022–2024): Brokerage Breakthrough and Model Validation
BVNK's earliest trading volume came from brokerage platforms, with the core use case being account funding. Retail users deposit stablecoins to fund their accounts and trade stocks, cryptocurrencies, and other assets anytime, anywhere; we automatically convert them to fiat currency to settle with the platform.
This use case is sometimes dismissed as not being a "real-world" application. But consider what it means: cross-border, 24/7, instant settlement. A user in Brazil can deposit funds into their brokerage account at 2 a.m. on Sunday. This is the future of fund movement—just happening in an industry that hasn’t received enough recognition for it.
From 2023 to 2024, this use case accounted for approximately 50% of our total trading volume. Public industry information indicates that companies such as Bridge and Zerohash have observed the same trend with clients like Bitso and tastytrade.
Phase Two (2024–2025): Institutional Relay and Ecosystem Expansion
This is the truly exciting phase. Major payment service providers are beginning to integrate stablecoin payment channels for their customers: dLocal, Worldpay, Thunes, Visa, and others. Use cases are continuously expanding: merchant settlements, B2B payables, and treasury operations.
BVNK Annualized Trading Volume by Use Case
In 2025, B2B payments accounted for 44% of our total transaction volume, becoming the largest category, surpassing account top-ups.
Notably, many stablecoin payment providers that achieved product-market fit on trading platforms have not successfully expanded into the B2B payment space.
During this period, we also saw several high-growth use cases take off.
The first is B2C payroll and gig economy spending. Companies like Deel and Ontop are using BVNK’s infrastructure to pay employees, sellers, and creators worldwide in real time.
The second is the surging demand for embedded stablecoin wallets. Our trading volume grew 263-fold within a year, from nearly zero to $3.4 billion.
Fintech companies and global platforms recognize that stablecoins are no longer just for payments—they can be directly embedded as a wallet layer within products. We have moved beyond simple "send/receive" functions and entered a phase where stablecoins are used as infrastructure.
For these companies, owning a wallet means controlling customer relationships and the flow of value.
Growth rate by stablecoin use case
Phase Three (2026 and beyond): Enterprise Adoption and Infrastructure Restructuring
Last year, we onboarded more enterprise clients than in all previous years combined, and the client pipeline for 2026 shows a clear shift in use cases.
Nearly one in four new customers (23%) requested an embedded digital dollar wallet, nearly matching B2B payments (32% of new customers). These wallets are embedded payment infrastructures on platforms, backed by millions of end users.
Comparison of BVNK customer numbers by use case for 2025 and 2026
Integrating a stablecoin wallet into a platform isn't just adding another payment option—it's building infrastructure. When a marketplace embeds a wallet, or a tech giant builds stablecoin spending capabilities directly into its platform, you're seeing companies bet on stablecoins as the foundational layer for future money movement and value storage.
In 2026, we also saw growing demand for two additional emerging use cases:
B2C stablecoin checkout has emerged as a standalone use case (accounting for 7% of new customers), primarily adopted by luxury brands, travel companies, and large tech firms adding stablecoin checkout as an alternative to traditional payment methods.
B2C salary and marketing platform expenses continue to grow (accounting for 8% of new customers).
The inevitability behind the evolution
Brokerage platforms were the first to demonstrate the value of stablecoin payments: users are typically crypto-native (requiring no market education), need global coverage from day one, and stablecoins offer immediate advantages over international wire transfers.
But the same advantages—speed, global accessibility, and 24/7 availability—apply equally to B2B payments, B2C expenditures, and embedded wallet experiences within enterprise platforms today.
Another point is that stablecoin payment infrastructure providers like BVNK, which successfully scaled early use cases as far back as 2022, have built robust operational capabilities and compliance frameworks—exactly what today’s payment companies and enterprises need. This proven track record has become the foundation for all subsequent developments.
The flywheel has just begun to turn.
The overall market's growth momentum is clear, but remember that we are still in the early stages.
Stablecoins are opening up new markets by making payments faster, cheaper, and globally interconnected—markets whose size is difficult to estimate today.
The Uber analogy is highly relevant: its market wasn't just taxis, but the surge in travel demand that emerged once transportation became convenient and on-demand.
Stablecoins are no different—their unique advantages not only enhance existing use cases but also create entirely new applications.