Sentora (formerly Intotheblock) highlighted yet another milestone for Stablecoins, revealing last month that the volume of transactions on the chain surged to almost $1.4 trillion. The analytics company shares a bar chart stacked on X (formerly Twitter), showing stable climbs at monthly volumes since early 2020, with the May tally showing new record highs for these Dollar Peg tokens.
Steady climb to record levels
In January 2020, the Stablecoin-on-chain combined activity did not break the $50 billion mark. However, volumes have skyrocketed as Defi, NFT Marketplaces and cross-border payments leaned heavily towards Dollar Peg tokens.
- 2020 Total: ~500 billion dollars
- 2021 Total: ~$85 billion
- 2022 Total: ~$1.1 trillion
- 2023–2024 Average monthly volume: $800 billion to $1 trillion
The $1.38 trillion rise in May not only clenched the $1.25 trillion in April, but also brought the major legacy payments network to hand. The annual Stablecoin volume is already the total transaction figures for Dwarf Visa and MasterCard.
Big 2 domination
The Stablecoin market itself is in tears. The total market capitalization reached a record $228 billion in early June, up 17%, according to Cryptoquant.
- Tether (USDT) Demand for chains like Tron and increased use in emerging markets has brought market capitalization to around $1555.7 billion and market capitalization to around $1557 billion, still at the forefront.
- Circle USD Coin (USDC) Its growth will then be driven by MICA licensing in Europe and strong payment cases in North and Latin America.
New participants, such as real-world assetback tokens like Pax Dollar (USDP), FRAX (FRAX), and DGX, are also carving out the niche, but on-chain share remains modest compared to the “Big 2.”
What's behind Stablecoin Boom?
It really comes down to some big trends:
- defi and light agriculture
The days when most people sat idle and left coins in exchange. These days, you can park your stubcoins in a lending protocol or liquidity pool to get a juicy annual yield. The promise of solid returns is that countless users are changing funds in chains and shifting to make Idol Cash work. - Faster, cheaper cross-border payments
Whether you're a Manila freelancer, a business paying from a Berlin client, or sending money to the continent, Stablecoins offers almost seating settlements without price fluctuations for Bitcoin or etheric roller coasters. It's quick, predictable and cheaper than traditional wire transfers or other methods. - Increased regulatory trust
It is true that Clarity breeds adoptions. In the US, a recent bipartisan Senate bill laid the foundation for Stablecoin surveillance. Beyond the pond, the new MICA framework in Europe is rolling out licenses for publishers. All of this reassured that banks, payment companies and stubcoin weren't going anywhere. - On-Chain Trading and Arbitrage
As the spreads close DEXS and CEXS, high-frequency traders and market makers are pumping huge amounts of stub coins through smart contracts to gain price inefficiencies.
Looking ahead
The Stablecoin ecosystem now comfortably covers traditional payment rails with enormous volume. Marketwatchers are keen to see if the new regulatory framework is keeping momentum going, or if the guardrails are tighter and tighter guardrails can help keep growth down. For now, the trendline remains clear. Tokens that have been stolen from the dollar have become essential plumbing for the modern crypto economy.
