Stablecoins are undergoing a fundamental transformation. A new report from a16z reveals that these assets are no longer just transfer tools between exchanges or passive savings vehicles—they are becoming core global financial infrastructure. Nine charts outline the underlying trends: regulatory clarity, localized payment use cases, and Asia's market dominance.
Regulatory Clarity: GENIUS Act Boosts Transaction Volumes
The U.S. GENIUS Act established a federal regulatory framework for stablecoin issuers, directly accelerating volume growth. Adjusted transaction volumes had already been rising for several quarters before the law passed; in Q1 2026, they hit approximately $4.5 trillion. In Europe, the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework drove a short-term surge in non-USD stablecoin trading—after several major exchanges delisted USDT in late 2024, peak volumes exceeded $40 billion, stabilizing at $15-25 billion monthly since.
Payment Shift: C2B Commercial Transactions Surge 128% Year-over-Year
Peer-to-peer (C2C) transfers remain the largest use case by transaction count, totaling 789.5 million in 2025. But consumer-to-business (C2B) is growing fastest: from 124.9 million in 2024 to 284.6 million in 2025, a 128% increase. Stablecoin payment card infrastructure is scaling in tandem. Programs built on Rain technology (Etherfi Cash, Kast, Wallbit, etc.) saw monthly collateral deposits surge from near zero in November 2024 to over $300 million by early 2026.
Velocity Doubles: Capital Turnover Accelerates
Stablecoin velocity—adjusted monthly transfer volume divided by market cap—climbed from 2.6x in early 2024 to 6x nearly doubling. This indicates demand growth is outpacing new issuance, sharply improving utilization of existing supply. Excluding trading and exchange-related flows, estimated payment volumes between different parties in 2025 ranged from $350 billion to $550 billion.
Asia Dominates: Nearly Two-Thirds of Global Volume
Geographically, nearly two-thirds of transaction volume originates from Asia, concentrated in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan. North America accounts for roughly a quarter, Europe 13%, and Latin America and Africa combined less than $1 billion. Non-USD stablecoins are gaining traction in emerging markets: BRLA, pegged to the Brazilian real, saw monthly transfer volumes jump from near zero in early 2023 to about $400 million in early 2026, driven by integration with the PIX instant payment network.
Localization Trend: Cross-Border Use Case Fades
The share of domestic transactions has risen from roughly 50% in early 2024 to nearly 70% in early 2026. The report stresses that stablecoins' core value is no longer cross-border remittances but everyday domestic payments built on a global network. While USD-pegged stablecoins still dominate, non-USD variants backed by euros, Brazilian reais, and other local currencies are steadily gaining market share.