# Stablecoin Market Surges Past $35 Trillion Amid Blurring Lines with Traditional Finance

Stablecoins, pegged to traditional currencies like the U.S. dollar or euro, are rapidly becoming a cornerstone of the digital financial infrastructure. A report released on March 18 by blockchain data analysts Dune and Artemis titled “The State of Stablecoins 2025” highlights the explosive growth of the stablecoin market from February 2024 to February 2025. During this period, total supply surged by 63% to $214 billion, and transaction volumes surpassed $35 trillion.

The report underscores the expanding role of stablecoins across exchanges, decentralized finance (DeFi), and payment markets. Notably, increased utilization by institutional investors and financial entities is causing the boundaries between traditional finance and the cryptocurrency market to fade. In 2024, stablecoin transaction volumes reached an annual total of $35 trillion, dwarfing global payment networks like Visa ($15.7 trillion) and Mastercard (approximately $9 trillion), though it still trailed the global forex market, which boasts an average daily volume of $1.1 trillion, totaling around $400 trillion annually.

According to the report, “While stablecoins are still in their early stages compared to traditional currency markets, they are growing quickly. Particularly in remittances and international payments, stablecoins offer lower costs and faster transaction speeds than traditional financial systems.”

# USDT and USDC Lead the Stablecoin Market

Tether (USDT) continues to dominate the stablecoin market, with a supply reaching $146 billion in February 2025, accounting for 64% of the total market, down slightly from 69% last year. Conversely, Circle’s USD Coin (USDC)’s supply doubled from $28.5 billion to $56 billion, raising its market share to 24.5%.

USDC’s expansion is attributed to several factors, including acquiring the EU’s Market in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) license, approvals in Canada and Dubai’s International Financial Centre (DIFC), market expansion in Latin America, and collaborations with PayPal and Stripe. Binance’s delisting of eight unregulated stablecoins, including BUSD, in December 2024 further solidified USDC’s position.

# Divergent Flows in DeFi, CEX, and Blockchain Networks

While centralized exchanges (CEX) hold substantial amounts of stablecoins, DeFi platforms see the most active use, particularly in liquidity-rich decentralized exchanges (DEX) and lending and staking services. Ethereum and Tron remain central to stablecoin liquidity, but networks like Solana and Coinbase’s Layer 2 network, Base, are quickly increasing their market share. From February 2024 to February 2025, Solana’s market share rose from 1.6% to 5.4%, and Base’s grew from 0.2% to 1.8%.

Base led in stablecoin transaction volume, skyrocketing from $3.7 billion in February 2024 to $1.9 trillion in February 2025, capturing 43% of the market. The report attributes this surge to increased DeFi-centric trading volumes, MakerDAO’s adoption of a new stablecoin, USDS, and the growth of regional stablecoins.

# Emergence of New Stablecoins

Despite the dominance of USDT and USDC, new stablecoins are gaining traction. Prominent examples include:
– Ethena Labs’ USDe: A synthetic dollar utilizing an Ethereum-based ‘delta-neutral’ strategy, which recorded a supply of $6.2 billion within a year, driven by its attractive 9% annual interest rate popular in the DeFi sector.
– MakerDAO’s USDS: Introduced in September 2024 as a replacement for DAI, quickly expanding to $4.3 billion.
– PayPal’s PYUSD: After expanding to Solana in May 2024, it achieved a 271% growth rate.

# Growth of Regional Stablecoins

Regional stablecoin usage on Base Network is also rising. Examples include:
– EURC (Euro): Launched in July 2024, achieving a supply of $26.8 million and a weekly transaction volume of approximately $70 million.
– BRZ (Brazilian Real): Surged tenfold in supply to $1.7 million in March 2025.

According to the report, “Regional stablecoins are expected to enhance the efficiency of digital financial systems and play a crucial role in national payment and remittance markets.”

# Future Outlook

The report projects that post-2025, stablecoins will become more integrated with the real economy. With regulatory frameworks being established, institutional participation is expected to increase, and the use of stablecoins in payments, lending, and international remittances could expand significantly. Stablecoins are transitioning from the cryptocurrency sphere to integral components of global financial infrastructure, potentially narrowing the gap with traditional financial markets and establishing a new financial standard in the coming years.