Stablecoins Moved $35T in 2025 - Only 1% Were Real Payments

Stablecoins settle enormous volumes but real payments remain small

Stablecoins settled roughly $35 trillion on blockchain rails last year, according to a joint analysis by McKinsey and Artemis Analytics. While that headline figure highlights the rapid growth of on-chain activity, the report found that only about 1% of that total—roughly $380–$390 billion—represented genuine, end-user payments such as remittances, payroll, vendor payouts and capital markets settlements.

On-chain volume vs. real-world payment utility

The discrepancy stems from the nature of most stablecoin transactions. A large share of the $35 trillion reflects crypto trading, intra-exchange transfers, automated protocol movements and other flows that don’t touch traditional merchant payments or consumer payouts. In other words, while stablecoins like USDC and Tether power a booming crypto economy, they have not yet displaced legacy rails for everyday cross-border payments and payroll at scale.

For context, McKinsey estimated the global payments market exceeds $2 quadrillion annually. The $380–$390 billion figure for true stablecoin payments therefore amounts to roughly 0.02% of total global payments—illustrating how far stablecoin rails must go before approaching Visa or Mastercard’s established transaction volumes.

Where stablecoins are being used today

The report identifies three primary use cases where stablecoins are already functioning as payment vehicles:

• Business-to-business (B2B) settlements: About $226 billion annually, driven by supplier payments and corporate transfers.
• Global payroll and remittances: Around $90 billion, where speed and lower fees can benefit migrant workers and international staff.
• Capital markets and automated fund settlements: Approximately $8 billion, including programmatic and institutional settlements.

These segments highlight stablecoins’ early traction in niche but meaningful financial workflows. Crypto firms such as Circle and Tether continue to promote stablecoins as cheaper, faster alternatives to SWIFT and other legacy cross-border systems, while payment incumbents like Visa and Stripe explore integrations with stablecoin rails.

Why headlines can be misleading

Many recent headlines compare total stablecoin transaction volumes directly to card networks like Visa or Mastercard. That comparison overlooks a critical distinction: card networks predominantly record consumer and merchant payments, whereas much of stablecoin volume is internal to crypto markets. As a result, raw on-chain transaction totals can overstate stablecoins’ current role in everyday commerce.

Long-term potential and path to scale

McKinsey and Artemis stress that lower present-day payment volumes do not negate stablecoins’ long-term potential. Instead, the analysis establishes a realistic baseline for measuring progress. For stablecoins to scale as a mainstream payment solution, they will need broader merchant adoption, regulatory clarity, fiat liquidity integrations, and partnerships between crypto providers and traditional payment firms.

As firms from both worlds—crypto-native issuers and legacy payment giants—compete to build rails, tracking real-world payment adoption (remittances, payroll, B2B settlements) will be crucial to assessing whether stablecoins evolve from high-volume crypto plumbing into reliable, global payment infrastructure.

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