[Crypto Radar] "You Can Even Buy Coffee With Tether"... What's the Outlook for the Stablecoin Market?

Payments Climbed 45.4% to $482 Billion
Efforts to Use Stablecoins for Everyday Payments Continue in the Private Sector
Circulating Supply Rose 3.7% Year Over Year to $304.9 Billion
"The Market Needs More Stablecoins in Circulation to Grow"

Stablecoin payments are expanding beyond business-to-business transfers into everyday life. However, some say that for the stablecoin market to grow as much as expected, demand to hold stablecoins must support it in addition to payment demand.

Everyday Payments Now Made With Stablecoins

According to blockchain data platform Allium on October 22, the total stablecoin supply stood at $304.9 billion in the third quarter of 2026, up 3.7% from $294 billion in the same period last year. Dollar-backed stablecoins accounted for $303.6 billion, or 99.6% of the total. By issuer, Tether had the largest market share at $184 billion (60.3%), followed by Circle at $74.2 billion (24.3%).

Stablecoin supply has increased only slightly, but payment volumes are growing rapidly. From January to September 2026, estimated stablecoin payments totaled $482 billion, up 45.4% from the same period a year earlier. The number of payments rose 71.3% to 1.04 billion. The number of payments grew faster than their total value, bringing down the average payment amount, while the number of small-value transactions and payment frequency increased.

Stablecoin card payments have seen particularly strong growth. Their value surged 905.2%, from $388 million in January-September last year to $3.9 billion in the same period this year. Business-to-business transfers, the most common use of stablecoins, grew 37.6% over the same period, from $179 billion to $246 billion.

How Are Stablecoins Being Used for Everyday Payments?

Efforts to use stablecoins for everyday payments are also underway. Overseas, Visa, a global payments network, has partnered with digital asset payments company Mesh to offer payment services using stablecoins. Instead of having to sell stablecoins in advance and transfer the money to a bank account, users can have Mesh convert their assets during the payment process. This allows merchants to receive payment through the Visa network even when customers pay with stablecoins. The service launch date and eligible wallet apps have not yet been disclosed.

In South Korea, stablecoin payment trials targeting foreign nationals are underway. KSNET has completed a trial of Crypto.com Pay with Shinhan Bank and digital asset platform Crypto.com. Under the system, when foreign tourists pay with dollar-backed stablecoins at places such as hospitals, domestic merchants receive settlement in won.

Stablecoins are also drawing attention in agentic commerce, as they make it easy to pay for items automatically through an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant. NH Nonghyup Card has also announced plans to verify an automatic payment service using an AI assistant with AhnLab Blockchain Company. Under the business model, customers provide the AI assistant with a shopping list and payment conditions, and the AI finds the best products and automatically pays with stablecoins, while the card issuer handles settlement.

What It Will Take for the Stablecoin Market to Grow

Although stablecoin use is increasing, some say it may be difficult for the market to grow as much as expected. A report by the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee (TBAC), released by the U.S. Treasury in 2025, projected that the stablecoin market would grow to about $2 trillion by 2028. However, an analysis found that reaching this size would require the average annual stablecoin supply to increase by 131% every year, making the projection difficult to achieve based on the market's past growth trend.

"For the supply to reach $2 trillion, not only the amount used for payments but also the balances people hold must increase," said Kim Sehee, a researcher at Eugene Investment & Securities. "As greater demand to hold stablecoins could lead to increased net issuance, going forward, we need to see whether average circulating balances and net issuance expand alongside payment volumes."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.