I just dove into the latest Dune data on stablecoins, and there are some really interesting things that people aren’t talking about much. We get stuck on that number of 300 billion in circulation, but that doesn’t tell us anything about what’s really happening.

Have you ever stopped to think about who is actually holding these coins? Well, as of February 2026, there are 172 million unique addresses holding at least one stablecoin. Seems like a lot? Maybe. But look at the concentration: while USDT and USDC have a well-distributed ownership (the top 10 holders control only 23-26%), others like USDS have 90% concentrated in just 10 wallets. That significantly changes the risk analysis.

Now, here’s the part that really catches attention. In January, the transaction volume with stablecoins hit $10.3 trillion. That’s more than double January 2025. But here’s the crucial detail: 90% of this flow goes through DEX and CEX. Stablecoins mainly serve as trading infrastructure and liquidity, not as everyday payment methods as many imagine.

USDC is standing out quite a bit in this story. It has a transaction volume five times higher than USDT, despite having 2.7 times less supply. The circulation speed of USDC on Base, for example, reaches 14 times per day. Compared to USDT on Ethereum, which is only 0.2 times — with over $100 billion in supply practically idle.

But there’s one thing few realize: the same stablecoin works completely differently on each blockchain. PYUSD on Solana circulates four times faster than on Ethereum. The chain matters just as much as the token.

And check this out — the market is expanding beyond the dollar. There are already 59 stablecoins in other currencies: euros (with a supply of 990 million), Brazilian real, yen, Nigerian naira, South African rand, Turkish lira, and more. The total supply in local currencies is still small, just $1.2 billion, but it’s spread across six continents. For those tracking conversions like 170 euros to naira or other pairs, this means the infrastructure for local stablecoins is being built now.

The most important thing? 77% of the supply is in identified addresses. For on-chain data, that’s an incredibly high rate. It means we can track where the money really is and what it’s doing. This completely changes how institutions and regulators will evaluate stablecoins moving forward. The next generation of analysis will be very different from what we’re used to.