The transfer of stablecoins has surged more than 16 times in the past four years, indicating a promising trend towards widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies.
In April, the monthly volume of stablecoin transfers reached a record high of $1.68 trillion, skyrocketing from $100 billion in October 2020. This substantial increase, as reported by Token Terminal data, underscores the growing popularity and utility of stablecoins as a bridge between traditional finance and the digital asset realm.
The movement of stablecoins serves as a barometer for the health of the crypto market and the confidence of investors, with a rising market cap typically signaling increased investor conviction and the influx of more capital. The total market capitalization of stablecoins has surpassed $162 billion, showing a 24% year-to-date growth from $130 billion at the beginning of the year, according to DefiLlama.
The expanding adoption of stablecoins is further evidenced by the growing number of active users. Visa’s stablecoin dashboard reveals that over 31.1 million monthly active users engaged in more than 353 million transactions in the last 30 days, reflecting a surge in stablecoin usage and the maturation of the crypto industry.
Kilian Peter Krings, the CEO of Stabble, a Solana-based liquidity and trading platform, views the increasing stablecoin usage as a positive sign of broader adoption and industry development. He emphasized the significance of the stablecoin market breaching the $1 trillion mark in March 2024, reaching a total transfer volume of $1.27 trillion across all issuers, according to Token Terminal data.
Sami Start, the co-founder and CEO of Transak, attributes the growing trust in stablecoins to their expanding use cases, particularly in the tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs), which is driving the growth of stablecoin transactions.
In March, Tether, the largest stablecoin issuer, accounted for the majority of the $1 trillion trading volume, totaling $716 billion, followed by Circle, the issuer of the second-largest stablecoin, USD Coin (USDC), with $358 billion in transactions.
Overall, the surge in stablecoin transfers and usage signifies a growing confidence in cryptocurrencies and their potential applications, marking a significant milestone in the evolution of the digital asset ecosystem.