Stablecoins surpass Visa: trading volume leads for the first time.

According to Bitwise's recent release (2025 Q1 Crypto Market Review), the total trading volume of global stablecoins reached $11.9 trillion in 2024, exceeding Visa's trading volume for the same period ($10.8 trillion) for the first time.

This trend indicates that the application of stablecoins in cross-border payments, on-chain settlements, and asset circulation is continuously growing, gradually forming a financial settlement system operating on a blockchain network, providing new options for the global payment system.


Tether user growth: over 30 million new users added quarterly.


On April 18, 2025, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino announced that the total number of global Tether stablecoin (USDT) users had surpassed 450 million, with over 30 million new users added each quarter, primarily from emerging markets.


Although there are differences in usage scenarios and identity attributes between stablecoin users and traditional bank customers, this scale of growth still demonstrates the practical advantages of stablecoins in terms of payment efficiency, access thresholds, and circulation freedom in emerging markets. USDT has been widely used in cross-border payments, on-chain asset transfers, and daily settlements in some high-inflation markets.


The Bitwise report also pointed out that the stablecoin ecosystem shows the following three structural trends:

  • Asset scale expanded: the total asset scale of stablecoins reached $218 billion, a quarter-on-quarter growth of 13.5%.

  • Trading activity increased: quarterly trading volume rose by 30.14%, setting a new historical record.

  • Asset structure evolution: The total amount of US Treasury assets held by mainstream stablecoin issuers has exceeded that of central banks in countries like Germany and South Korea, showing their new role in the US dollar liquidity cycle.



Federal Reserve signals: Powell publicly supports stablecoin legislation


On April 16, 2025, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stated in a speech at the Chicago Economic Club: 'As crypto assets gradually enter the mainstream, establishing a legal framework for stablecoins is a good idea.'


He pointed out that although the progress of stablecoin-related legislation had been slow, under the current context of increased market maturity, there is a realistic basis for re-promoting the construction of the regulatory system. At the same time, he also stated that regulatory standards may be 'moderately relaxed' with the evolution of financial technology.


In fact, this is not the first time Powell has sent positive signals regarding stablecoins. As early as the 2023 Congressional hearings, he stated: 'Under appropriate regulation, stablecoins can be considered a form of currency.' This indicates that US policymakers are shifting from 'observers' to 'guides' to promote stablecoins into a more controllable, transparent, and compliant financial framework.

Stablecoins are building an on-chain financial system.


For a long time, Visa, SWIFT, US Treasury bonds, and the US dollar have constituted the 'gold standard' of the global payment and settlement network. Now, stablecoins represented by USDT and USDC are building a globally accessible and more efficient financial network based on blockchain technology, coexisting in function with traditional financial architectures and gradually playing a complementary role.

  • Payment layer: Stablecoins support a real-time settlement mechanism that operates 24/7, effectively reducing the transaction costs and time delays of traditional payment networks.

  • Reserve layer: Stablecoins are backed by assets such as US Treasury bonds, enhancing their credit backing and market acceptance.

  • Regulators: The US Congress is expected to pass stablecoin legislation before July this year, clarifying its legal status and providing path support for its scalable and compliant development.


As summarized by Bitwise in the report: 'Stablecoins are accelerating the construction of a financial system based on blockchain, denominated in US dollars, independent of traditional financial tracks.'


Although mainstream stablecoins are still issued and managed by centralized entities, their on-chain operating models, transparent asset structures, and global deployment capabilities are gradually forming a highly efficient and open on-chain financial framework.



Written at the end


From asset scale and trading data to changes in policy attitudes and the rapid expansion of user bases, stablecoins are becoming an important variable in the global financial landscape. It is not a replacement for traditional finance but a new technological path and system option for global value circulation driven by real-world needs.


The development of stablecoins not only provides new financial access channels for emerging markets but also raises new regulatory issues for global policymakers. In the face of this gradually unfolding evolution of financial infrastructure, traditional institutions need to seek a new balance between controllable risks and inclusive innovation.


Perhaps we are standing at the beginning of a financial paradigm shift. And stablecoins are merely the prologue to this long-term evolution.