Stablecoin Volumes Hit $2.5T as Supply Peaks – But Fragmentation Persists: Chainalysis Report

The stablecoin market has evolved over the past 12 ￰0￱ findings from payment platform Bridge show that stablecoin transaction volume has reached record highs, surpassing $2.5 ￰1￱ from Bridge also shows that the total stablecoin supply has reached an all-time high in the past few months, driven primarily by the growth of Tether’s ￰2￱ findings from Chainalysis’s 2025 Global Adoption Index report note that between June 2024 and June 2025, USDT processed over $1 trillion per month, peaking at $1.14 trillion in January 2025. Meanwhile, Circle’s USDC ranged from $1.24 to $3.29 trillion monthly , with particularly high activity in October last ￰3￱ Chainalysis 2025 Global Cryptocurrency Adoption Index is L I V E!

Here’s a snapshot of what we found: APAC is emerging as the fastest-growing region Eastern Europe countries dominate the index, when adjusted for population Stablecoins are surging globally for a… ￰4￱ — Chainalysis (@chainalysis) September 3, 2025 Stablecoin Market Fragmented, But Growth Remains Strong According to Chainalysis, these volumes show the continued centrality of Tether and USDC in crypto market ￰5￱ hundreds of other stablecoins are also being leveraged ￰6￱ suggests that while today’s stablecoin ecosystem is expanding, fragmentation remains across the ￰7￱ chief economist Kim Grauer told Cryptonews that this divergence may also indicate a shift in how stablecoins are being used.

“USDC’s growth appears closely linked to U. S.-based institutional rails and regulated corridors, while EURC’s rise suggests growing interest in euro-denominated digital assets, possibly driven by MiCA-compliant platforms and European fintech adoption,” Grauer said.) is an enterprise-grade stablecoin , designed with regulatory compliance, utility, and transparency. “Unlike stablecoins geared primarily toward retail users, RLUSD has been purpose-built for enterprise utility,” they ￰8￱ to Ripple, common use cases for RLUSD include facilitating the instant settlement of cross-border payments, providing liquidity for remittance and treasury operations, seamlessly integrating with decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, and bridging between traditional fiat currencies and the crypto ecosystem to ensure an efficient transition when on-ramping/off-ramping in ￰9￱ use cases are important, especially as stablecoins move beyond crypto-native trading tools to mainstream financial ￰10￱ already appears to be the case, as there has been a rise in institutional activity around stablecoins recently.

Chainalysis’s index report notes that Stripe, Mastercard, and Visa have all launched products allowing users to spend stablecoins via traditional ￰11￱ like MetaMask, Kraken, and ￰12￱ have recently introduced card-linked stablecoin ￰13￱ the same time, traditional financial institutions such as Citi and Bank of America are expanding their offerings and may even launch their own stablecoins ￰14￱ For Payments Another interesting use case for stablecoins centers around retail and merchant ￰15￱ to Chainalysis, PYUSD’s recent growth could point to a broader appetite for alternative, highly regulated stablecoins in retail and payment ￰16￱ on the merchant side, partnerships between Circle, Paxos, and companies like Nuvei plan to streamline settlement in ￰17￱ isn’t only impacting the ￰18￱ Seo, chairman of Kaia DLT Foundation, told Cryptonews that in regions like Korea, stablecoins for retail payments are quickly gaining traction.

“Stablecoin users can purchase merchandise by using tap-to-pay or online stablecoin-enabled payment solutions in Korea,” ￰19￱ ￰20￱ further explained that Kaia’s USDT stablecoin has become the main digital currency for the mini decentralized application (dApp) ecosystem within LINE Messenger, a popular messaging app in Asia. “When users enjoy Dapps on their every day messaging app which dominates markets in Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand, they can use Kaia USDT for ￰21￱ USDT is now also available in Visa-enabled tap-to-pay, Oobit, in South Korea, Thailand, and the ￰22￱ can travel with the Oobit app to enjoy shopping in these Asian countries.” Challenges May Hamper Adoption, But Innovation Continues Although stablecoin growth is accelerating in different areas, a number of challenges may slow ￰23￱ instance, Grauer explained that stablecoin usage remains partly discouraged by traditional financial players and regulators who are still more cautious about digital assets more ￰24￱ a user’s perspective, Grauer thinks that the technology remains partly complex and potentially too intimidating at this point for mainstream adoption.

However, as regulatory frameworks mature globally, Grauer is confident that stablecoins will move from a niche financial tool to mainstream financial infrastructure with real-world utility. “The potential is immense, and unlocking this next phase of digital financial innovation can be best achieved with increased regulatory clarity, enhanced user experience, and industry collaboration,” she ￰25￱ for the future of stablecoins, Collins noted that growth is just one piece of the puzzle. “We’re entering Stablecoins 2.0—The first wave digitized dollars, the next wave financializes ￰26￱ won’t just be passive payment tokens; they’ll unlock yield, governance, and programmability,” Collins ￰27￱ order to achieve this, Collins said that a key shift will be to separate principal from yield, so that stablecoin users can spend the dollar while still capturing an income stream.

“The challenge, and the opportunity, is to build this in full alignment with emerging stablecoin regulations,” he said.