Stablecoin Transactions Surge 75% in EU Post MiCA Regulation

Crypto has become a significant part of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025, with Wall Street closely monitoring the price of Bitcoin (BTC) alongside traditional financial indicators. The integration of crypto into mainstream finance is being spearheaded by stablecoins, which, despite their unglamorous reputation, are playing a crucial role in bridging the gap between decentralized finance and traditional financial systems.

Stablecoins, pegged against fiat currencies, can perform all the functions of traditional currency, from commercial bank integration to remittance payments. In 2024, global stablecoin transactions reached $27.6 trillion, and the market capitalization of stablecoins in 2025 is $238 billion. This growth has largely gone unnoticed, but it is driven by the demand from the world’s largest private banks, which have embraced stablecoins for cross-institutional transactions.

In 2019, JP Morgan developed the JPM Coin to facilitate such transactions, and the rapid growth of interbank transactions has necessitated government regulation. The European Union was the first to implement comprehensive regulation with the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), which prioritizes consumer protection and anti-money laundering. This has led to a significant increase in EURC stablecoin transactions, from $7 million to $21 million between December 2024 and January 2025, highlighting the growing demand for stablecoins in cross-border transactions and remittances.

In the United States, the path to stablecoin adoption has been more nuanced. Under Gary Gensler, crypto faced regulatory hurdles, but since Donald Trump took the White House in 2025, the regulatory environment has evolved rapidly. The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act) provides clarity on the lawfulness of stablecoins and their use, with the CFTC announced as the primary regulator of digital commodities and payment stablecoins. This regulatory clarity is expected to drive significant growth in stablecoin adoption, both at the institutional and consumer levels.

Leading UK bank Standard Chartered has estimated that the GENIUS Act will cause the total stablecoin supply to rise from $230 billion to $2 trillion by the end of 2028. One of the most significant infiltrations into traditional finance is the transfer of U.S. treasuries to stablecoin issuers, with $1.2 trillion in U.S. debt set to be bought by Tether, Circle, and other dollar-pegged cryptocurrencies by 2030. This shift represents a major change in the traditional finance landscape, with crypto pulling up a seat at the table and set to have a larger piece of the treasury pie than major economies like China, Japan, and the UK in just five years.

With the GENIUS Act and MiCA in full swing, and institutional driving stablecoin transactions, it is expected that a significant portion of global FIAT capital flow will soon be represented by stablecoins. The Vice President of blockchain and digital assets at Mastercard, Raj Dhamodharan, recently highlighted that “most people won’t even know they’re using stablecoins” as the digital infrastructure required for crypto adoption is already in place. The physical money that backs up the number on our banking app will soon be pegged to a digital dollar or euro without most of the world ever knowing, marking a silent revolution in traditional finance.