Global Stablecoin Transactions Climb to $33 Trillion in Record Year
Stablecoins quietly crossed a major milestone in 2025, cementing their role as a core pillar of global digital finance, as transaction volumes surged to levels comparable with those of major payment networks.
Against this backdrop, total stablecoin transaction volume jumped by 72% last year to approximately $33 trillion, driven largely by rising institutional adoption. This surge was highlighted in a Bloomberg report citing data from Artemis Analytics.
USDC emerged as the primary beneficiary of this growth, processing $18.3 trillion in transactions, followed by Tether’s USDT with $13.3 trillion. Notably, the sharp increase in volumes signals a gradual shift away from activity concentrated solely on decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges, pointing instead to broader real-world use cases beyond speculative digital trading.
Commenting on this trend, Artemis co-founder Anthony Yem noted that it reflects the widespread adoption of a digital version of the US dollar. He explained that growing global demand for dollar-denominated assets—driven by persistent inflationary pressures and geopolitical instability—has positioned stablecoins as one of the easiest and most efficient ways to access the dollar internationally.
Within decentralized finance (DeFi), USDC continues to dominate activity, where frequent trading and lending result in the repeated reuse of the same digital assets, significantly inflating transaction volumes. By contrast, Tether is more commonly used for payments or as a store of value, which naturally leads to lower turnover. Even so, Tether remains the largest stablecoin by market capitalization at $187 billion, far exceeding USDC’s $75 billion.
Despite repeated warnings from regulators, including the International Monetary Fund, that stablecoins could disrupt traditional financial systems, growth indicators show little sign of slowing. Trading volume in the final quarter of the year alone reached a record $11 trillion, while Bloomberg Intelligence forecasts that total stablecoin payment flows could climb to $56 trillion by 2030.
As stablecoins continue to expand and gain acceptance among institutional players, it is increasingly evident that they are no longer limited to trading applications. Instead, they are becoming an integral component of global financial infrastructure, offering efficient access to the US dollar, particularly in times of economic volatility and geopolitical uncertainty. Nevertheless, a key challenge remains ensuring their stability and institutional safeguards, in order to mitigate the risks associated with excessive reliance on decentralized digital assets.
Looking ahead, the trajectory of stablecoins remains open-ended. While forecasts point to record-breaking payment volumes by the end of the decade, their long-term success will ultimately depend on their ability to adapt to evolving regulatory frameworks and to protect users from market volatility and institutional risks. Taken together, stablecoins appear set to remain a cornerstone of global digital finance, provided they are managed carefully to function as a stabilizing force rather than a source of systemic risk or speculative excess.
