Stablecoin transaction volume has surpassed Visa in raw terms, but the comparison requires careful nuance. According to Binance Research's April 21 report, stablecoins processed approximately $33 trillion in 2025, compared to Visa's $14 trillion. While the raw figure includes on-chain noise such as MEV and internal exchange flows, Binance emphasizes that the long-term trajectory—not the headline number—reveals the true evolution of the network.
Adjusted Data: Still Ahead of Visa, with Payment-Like Activity Growing
After excluding MEV and internal exchange flows, Binance Research stated in a follow-up post that adjusted stablecoin volume still overtakes Visa in 2026. The adjusted figure has climbed from roughly $0.5 trillion in 2022 to over $7 trillion today, while Visa's numbers have remained largely flat. This suggests a growing proportion of payment-like activity alongside trading-related flows. “Organic, payments-like stablecoin usage is doing the work now,” the firm noted on X.
Institutional Deployment: Over 60% of Banks Target Cross-Border Payments
Fireblocks data reveals a strong institutional push: about 60% of banks aim to use stablecoins for cross-border payments and FX, 52% prioritize real-time settlement, and 37% focus on treasury optimization. Custody and collateral use cases each sit near 30%. Binance Research remarked, “Banks aren't exploring. They're deploying.” This marks a shift from pilots to active implementation. Cost efficiency is a key driver: a $10,000 cross-border transfer via stablecoins carries near-zero fees and settles instantly, compared to ~$70 and 12 hours via fintech, ~$150 and 72 hours via SWIFT, ~$300 and 48 hours via card networks, and ~$350 and 24 hours via digital money transfer operators. “The gap is structural, not marginal,” Binance stressed.
McKinsey Estimate: Only a Fraction Represents Real Payments
However, the comparison with Visa carries an important caveat. McKinsey & Company estimates that stablecoins moved about $35 trillion in 2025, but only about $390 billion reflected actual payments, with the rest tied to trading, liquidity flows, and other blockchain-native activity. This distinction underscores that headline transaction values may overstate real-world commercial usage. Thus, while stablecoins surpass Visa in raw transfer value, the comparison is less definitive when narrowed to consumer and business payment activity.
Regulatory Momentum: Hong Kong Issues First Licenses, Industry Standards Needed
Binance Co-CEO Richard Teng, speaking at the Hong Kong Web3 Festival on April 20, highlighted stablecoins as a practical answer to cross-border payment inefficiencies. Hong Kong has since granted its first fiat-backed stablecoin issuer licenses to HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial under the city's Stablecoins Ordinance. Teng argued that regulatory fragmentation remains an obstacle, even as jurisdictions like the U.S., EU, Japan, UAE, and Hong Kong develop clearer rules. Compliance standardization is necessary for scaling cross-border adoption. Binance Research concluded that the payments case for stablecoins is becoming harder to dismiss as usage shifts from headline totals toward organic activity. Taken together, institutional adoption, regulatory progress, and growing payment utility suggest stablecoins are gaining traction as a viable layer for global payment infrastructure.