Stablecoin Payments Still Small Despite $35 Trillion On-Chain Volume, Report Finds

Stablecoins moved more than $35 trillion across blockchain networks over the past year, but only a very small share of that activity represented real-world payments, according to a new report from global consultancy McKinsey and blockchain data firm Artemis Analytics. The findings challenge common narratives that stablecoins are already rivaling traditional payment giants like Visa and Mastercard in everyday economic activity.

The report estimates that just $380 billion of stablecoin transactions in the past year reflected actual payments tied to real economic use cases. These include activities such as paying suppliers, sending international remittances, or funding payroll. While $380 billion is a meaningful figure on its own, it accounts for only about 1% of total stablecoin transaction volume. When compared with the broader global payments market, the number is even smaller, representing roughly 0.02% of the more than $2 quadrillion in annual global payments McKinsey estimates take place worldwide.

The research arrives at a time when competition around stablecoin-based payment infrastructure is accelerating. Major financial and payments companies, including Visa and Stripe, are expanding their efforts to integrate stablecoins into payment rails. At the same time, crypto-native firms such as Circle and Tether continue to promote stablecoins as faster and cheaper alternatives to traditional cross-border money transfers.

However, McKinsey and Artemis caution that headline figures often overstate stablecoins’ current role in payments. The majority of stablecoin transaction volume today comes from crypto trading, internal wallet transfers, and protocol-level operations that do not directly involve consumers or businesses making payments. As a result, comparisons between total stablecoin volumes and card network payment flows can be misleading.

The report identifies three main areas where stablecoins are currently being used for genuine payment activity. Business-to-business transactions account for the largest share, with an estimated $226 billion in annual volume. Global payroll and remittances follow at around $90 billion, while capital markets use cases, such as automated fund settlements, contributed approximately $8 billion last year.

Despite the relatively small footprint today, the authors emphasize that this gap does not undermine stablecoins’ long-term potential. Instead, they argue that a clearer baseline helps investors, policymakers, and companies better understand what needs to happen for stablecoin payments to scale meaningfully in the global economy.