Foreign media report that the total supply of stablecoins remains high at around $315 billion, but this liquidity has not significantly boosted the crypto market as it did in the previous cycle. A more direct change has occurred on the exchange side: funds have not drastically exited the ecosystem, nor have they consistently flowed into high-risk assets.
Deposits to the exchange have clearly slowed down.
The article noted that around February of this year, the monthly outflow of USDT and USDC briefly approached $8 billion. Since then, the outflow rate has slowed to approximately $4 billion, indicating that the pressure for capital withdrawal has eased compared to before.
In contrast, stablecoin deposits received by exchanges have also weakened. During periods of strong market performance, monthly inflows of USDT and USDC reached $5.7 billion, and sometimes exceeded $15 billion over a 30-day period. These phases largely coincided with periods of strong Bitcoin price gains.
Currently, the monthly deposit volume has declined to approximately $2.9 billion, and the annual average has dropped from about $4.47 billion to $3.87 billion. The ratio of 0.77 mentioned in the text reflects a clear slowdown in the pace of fund inflows.
Funds are still on the platform, but more cautious.
The article suggests that this divergence indicates liquidity has not truly left the crypto market, but rather remains within the market, observing. Investors are being more cautious with their capital and are no longer concentrating on high-volatility assets as they did previously.
This also explains why the supply of stablecoins has remained resilient, but their price performance has not strengthened accordingly. A high total supply of stablecoins does not necessarily mean that risk appetite has risen in tandem; what truly affects market resilience is whether capital is willing to enter trading, leverage, and spot allocation activities.
Expanded use cases for ETFs, payments, and settlement
The article also notes that demand for stablecoins is expanding beyond trading purposes to include more regulated and real-world payment scenarios. Recently, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved the T. Rowe Price Active Crypto ETF to hold a portion of stablecoins, signaling that stablecoins are beginning to be integrated into the liquidity management of actively managed crypto funds.
Beyond investment products, the use of stablecoins in payments, lending, and settlement is also growing. The article cites McKinsey data indicating that stablecoin transaction volumes in real-world payment scenarios are expected to reach approximately $390 billion in 2025, reflecting rising demand from both businesses and consumers.
Under this context, the role of stablecoins is evolving from a mere transaction medium to a broader digital asset infrastructure. As a result, even amid overall weakness in the crypto market, demand for stablecoins has not significantly declined.