2025 Stablecoin Market Analysis: USD Stablecoins Dominate, USDC Rises Rapidly

2025 is regarded as a key year in the development of stablecoins. In this year, stablecoins not only reached new highs in market size and trading activity, but regulatory policies and capital attention also accelerated simultaneously. This asset class, initially serving as a "safe haven" tool within the crypto market, is gradually expanding into the forefront of global payments, cross-border trade, DeFi infrastructure, and even sovereign credit.

A recently released industry report points out that stablecoins have become one of the most critical infrastructures connecting traditional finance and the crypto world, and are changing the global financial operating landscape. The report systematically reviews and analyzes the stablecoin industry from six dimensions: development history, market structure, application scenarios, global regulation, development potential, and potential risks.

The US dollar stablecoin dominates

The report shows that in the global stablecoin market, the market share of US dollar stablecoins holds an absolute advantage, with an issuance volume of 256.4 billion USD. In contrast, fiat stablecoins from other countries are still in their infancy, with the second-ranked euro stablecoin only reaching 49 million USD. Other fiat stablecoins such as the Japanese yen, British pound, South Korean won, and lira range from several hundred thousand to tens of millions of USD. This indicates that non-US dollar fiat stablecoins still have significant room for growth.

As of July 2025, the total market capitalization of global stablecoins has exceeded $250 billion, showing significant growth compared to the beginning of the year. Among them, the combined market capitalization of USDT and USDC accounts for 86.5% of the market, forming a duopoly in the stablecoin sector. It is noteworthy that the annual on-chain transfer volume of stablecoins reached $36.3 trillion, surpassing the total annual transaction volume of Visa and Mastercard, becoming the new cornerstone of the global payment network.

The rise of USDC in 2025 is particularly significant, with an annual growth rate reaching 40.9%. Based on this growth rate, USDC is expected to surpass USDT around 2030.

The explosive rise of stablecoins in this round is the result of multiple factors working together:

• Major economies are advancing stablecoin legislation, with regulatory paths becoming increasingly clear.
• Traditional finance and tech giants are entering the market.
• The stablecoin issuance company successfully went public, igniting the imagination of the capital market.
• Users in high inflation areas regard it as a "digital dollar" hedging tool.
• Emerging scenarios such as DeFi, RWA, and payment settlement continue to create actual demand.

From the perspective of on-chain activity, the number of global monthly active stablecoin addresses has exceeded 30 million, and the total number of on-chain holding addresses has surpassed 168 million. The proportion of transactions dominated by real users has increased from less than 15% in 2023 to around 22% currently, with the user structure gradually transitioning from arbitrage bots to enterprises and retail investors.

Stablecoins Entering the "Mainstream Battlefield"

The role of stablecoins is evolving from "trading hedging anchors" to "mainstream digital financial assets." Recently, several global tech giants and financial institutions have increased their involvement in stablecoins:

• The stablecoin issuer successfully listed on the US stock market, with a market value approaching 100 billion RMB at one point.
• A well-known payment company has launched its own stablecoin and has gone live on a high-performance public blockchain.
• Large retailers are starting to support stablecoin payments
• Emerging public chains attract a large number of stablecoin deployments due to their low fees and high scalability.

The joint promotion of traditional finance, internet platforms, and the native power of crypto has upgraded stablecoins from "specialized settlement tools for crypto" to widely available digital payment intermediaries, while also raising higher requirements for their regulatory compliance.

Structural Challenges Behind the Scale Boom

Despite the strong performance of the market, stablecoins still face numerous structural challenges and controversies:

1. Real usage scale issue: Although the overall transfer amount of stablecoins reaches 36 trillion USD, as much as 70 to 80 percent may consist of "virtual traffic" such as transfers between robots and within exchanges.

2. Anchor mechanism and transparency issues: Major stablecoins still have controversies regarding reserve asset structure, risk exposure, and audit transparency.

3. Regulatory policy differences: There are differences and games among regulatory policies of various countries. Some regions have not yet opened up to the use of stablecoins, while some markets actively take on the role of experimental fields for institutional innovation.

It is worth noting that the relevant legislation in the United States has clearly stated that stablecoins do not fall under the category of securities, prohibits algorithmic stablecoins, and requires that reserves be 100% high liquidity assets. If this legislation officially takes effect, it will profoundly affect the operational logic of existing mainstream stablecoins and the global compliance structure.

Future Outlook

The report specifically points out that non-U.S. dollar stablecoins are still in the early stages of development: the market value of euro stablecoins is less than 500 million USD, while the market values of yen, pound, and won stablecoins are mostly in the tens of millions of USD, indicating a significant expansion potential in the future.

With the gradual clarification of the regulatory environment and the participation of more institutions, stablecoins are expected to play a greater role in global payment networks, cross-border trade, and financial innovation. However, balancing innovation with risk control, and enhancing transparency and user trust will be key challenges facing the industry in the future.