Stablecoins have evolved from trading tools and savings vehicles into core payments infrastructure. Regulatory clarity boosted issuance, transaction velocity has doubled, and consumer-to-business use is surging. Non-USD variants and intra-country transfers now outpace purely cross-border flows.

• Stablecoins have shifted from trading/hoarding to real spending: velocity doubled from 2.6x to 6x supply turnover since early 2024, and consumer-to-business transactions doubled to 284.6 million in 2025.
• Regulation (GENIUS Act in the US, MiCA in Europe) unlocked institutional adoption, pushing adjusted volumes to ~$4.5 trillion in Q1 2026 and reshaping Europe's market after exchanges dropped USDT.
• Local-currency stablecoins and domestic use are overtaking cross-border flows—intra-country transfers rose from half to nearly three-quarters of payments since early 2024, exemplified by Brazil's PIX-integrated BRLA token hitting ~$400 million in monthly transfers.
• Asia dominates payment origination (~65%) over North America (~25%) and Europe (13%), while Latin America and Africa remain marginal.