Stablecoins moved $35 trillion last year but only 1% of it was for 'real world' payments

2026-01-24 01:24:46

Source: CryptoNewsNet Original Title: Stablecoins moved $35 trillion last year but only 1% of it was for ‘real world’ payments Original Link: Stablecoins moved more than $35 trillion on blockchain rails last year, but only about 1% of that was for real-world payments, according to a new report by the consultancy firm McKinsey and the blockchain data firm Artemis Analytics.

Their analysis estimated that only $380 billion of activity reflected actual payments, such as paying suppliers, sending remittances or funding payroll.

That represents only a tiny fraction, some 0.02% of the overall global payments volume, which McKinsey put at more than $2 quadrillion annually.

The finding comes at a time when competition to dominate stablecoin-based payments is intensifying. Traditional payment giants like Visa and Stripe are pushing into stablecoin rails, while crypto firms like Circle and Tether pitch their tokens as replacements for slow and costly international money transfers.

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