Non-USD Stablecoin Volume Explodes 1600% to $10 Billion
A joint report from Visa and Dune Analytics reveals a fundamental shift in the stablecoin market, with non-USD pegged tokens experiencing exponential growth in real-world applications. Between January 2023 and February 2026, the total supply of these stablecoins tripled to $1.1 billion. More significantly, their transfer volume skyrocketed by over 1600% to reach $10 billion, signaling a clear transition from tools for decentralized finance (DeFi) trading to mainstream payment and settlement instruments. This data points to growing demand for digital currencies that can facilitate cross-border commerce and remittances outside the traditional U.S. dollar-denominated financial system.
Circle and Tether Race to Build Dedicated Payment Blockchains
The accelerating use of stablecoins for payments is fueling a strategic battle among issuers and fintech firms to own the underlying settlement infrastructure. Companies are moving to create specialized, payment-focused blockchains to control transaction flow and capture fees directly. Tether-backed Plasma launched its mainnet in September 2025 as a public network optimized for cross-border transactions, while Circle launched a public testnet for its own purpose-built blockchain, Arc. This structural shift away from relying on general-purpose networks like Ethereum allows companies to avoid external fees and control the entire value chain.
Instead of relying on external networks and paying fees to ecosystems like Ethereum, companies are looking to capture more of that value themselves by building or controlling the settlement layer.
— Ran Goldi, Senior Vice President of Payments and Network at Fireblocks.
Adoption Accelerates in Africa Where Remittance Costs Exceed 7%
This trend is particularly potent in emerging markets, where high transaction costs and currency volatility create strong incentives for stablecoin adoption. Sub-Saharan Africa saw its on-chain value received increase by 52% in the 12 months through June 2025, reaching over $205 billion. In response, Circle has partnered with African fintech firm Sasai to integrate USDC into payment corridors where traditional remittance costs remain prohibitively high. According to the World Bank, transaction costs in countries like Sierra Leone and Uganda exceeded 7% in 2023, far above the United Nations' global target of 3%. This makes stablecoins a viable and increasingly popular alternative for both consumer remittances and business-to-business payments.
