Stablecoins Outpace Visa in Transactions as Market Hits $300B

Stablecoin market capitalization surpassed $300 billion in early August 2025, marking a historic milestone driven by institutional adoption, regulatory clarity, and expanding use cases. The total market value climbed from $250.3 billion in June to $266.9 billion by mid-August, with Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) dominating 86–90% of the market. This growth reflects a shift in global finance, as stablecoins now process transaction volumes exceeding traditional payment networks like Visa and Mastercard. In Q1 2025, stablecoin transfers reached $27.6 trillion, with Ethereum's Layer-1 recording $480 billion in volume in May alone.

Tether (USDT) maintained its lead with a market cap of $139.42 billion as of August 2025, while USDC grew to $61.05 billion, bolstered by regulatory compliance and institutional partnerships. Ripple's RLUSD, launched in December 2024, emerged as a new contender with $380 million in market capitalization, leveraging cross-border payment networks and regulatory approvals in Dubai. The competitive landscape intensified as USDC gained traction in transaction volumes on chains like Solana and Base, challenging Tether's dominance in specific ecosystems.

Yield-bearing stablecoins also experienced rapid expansion, surging to $11 billion in market capitalization by May 2025, or 4.5% of the total stablecoin market. Protocols like Ethena's USDe and tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) drove this growth, offering passive income opportunities in decentralized finance (DeFi). This segment expanded over 5284% from February 2024 to February 2025, reflecting demand for stable assets with earning potential. Concurrently, tokenized treasury bonds grew 414%, highlighting investor appetite for combining digital stability with traditional returns.

Regulatory developments played a pivotal role in legitimizing the market. The U.S. Senate Banking Committee passed the GENIUS Act in March 2025, mandating collateralization and anti-money laundering frameworks for stablecoin issuers. Similarly, the EU's MiCA regulation, fully implemented by mid-2025, standardized compliance for stablecoin projects, with 80% of top projects now meeting global AML and KYC standards. These frameworks positioned stablecoins for institutional adoption, with Standard Chartered projecting a market cap of $2 trillion by 2028 if regulatory conditions remain favorable.

Transaction volumes and user adoption underscored the utility of stablecoins beyond crypto trading. By mid-2025, stablecoins processed $5.7 trillion in transactions in 2024, with Q1 2025 volumes surging 66% year-over-year. Remittance services leveraging stablecoins reduced fees to 2–3%, compared to 6% via traditional banks, while merchant adoption expanded to 25,000 global businesses. Emerging markets, particularly in Latin America and Southeast Asia, drove 50% of global transaction volume, using stablecoins to hedge against inflation and access low-cost cross-border payments.

Looking ahead, the market is projected to reach $3.7 trillion by 2030, fueled by DeFi integration and central bank digital currency (CBDC) experiments. Institutional acceptance, regulatory clarity, and technological advancements like Ethereum's Dencun upgrade, which reduced transaction costs, will further accelerate adoption. As stablecoins bridge traditional and digital finance, their role in enhancing liquidity, reducing friction in payments, and expanding financial inclusion is expected to solidify their position as a cornerstone of the global financial system.

Source: [1] nftevening.com (https://nftevening.com/the-rise-of-stablecoins/) [2] Statista (https://www.statista.com/topics/9553/stablecoin/) [3] AnalyticsInsight (https://www.analyticsinsight.net/cryptocurrency-analytics-insight/what-is-driving-the-growth-of-stablecoins-in-2025) [4] coinlaw.io (https://coinlaw.io/stablecoin-statistics/)