Stablecoins are one of the most widely used tools in crypto. They are the default quote asset on most exchanges, the main way traders park value between positions, and an increasingly common payment rail. In mid-October 2026, three separate developments gave a clearer picture of where the market stands: a Standard Chartered report on slowing supply growth, a Bank for International Settlements (BIS) working paper on stablecoins and bank deposits, and Visa moving USDC prefunding into commercial production.
Supply Is Flat, Usage Is Not
In a report published on October 14, Geoffrey Kendrick, Standard Chartered's global head of digital assets research, said total stablecoin supply has stayed between $300 billion and $320 billion over the past 12 months and currently sits around $309 billion, according to The Block. As a result, the bank still expects the market to reach $2 trillion, but now by 2030 instead of 2028.
Activity tells a different story. According to the same report:
- Monthly on-chain stablecoin transfer value has averaged just under $10 trillion in 2026, up from about $4 trillion in 2025.
- Raw on-chain transfer value hit a monthly record of about $19 trillion in May.
- Average monthly velocity, meaning how often each stablecoin dollar changes hands, has roughly doubled to about 30 times from 15 times in 2025.
- USDC's monthly velocity rose to around 80 times, while USDT's stayed near seven times.
Kendrick described the supply slowdown as cyclical rather than structural, noting that earlier periods of flat stablecoin supply were followed by renewed growth once crypto markets recovered.
Different Stablecoins, Different Jobs
Standard Chartered splits the market into distinct segments. In its view, USDT dominates dollar savings in emerging markets, USDC leads payments in developed markets, and USDC and Ethena's USDe hold strong positions in crypto trading. The bank expects the most competition in developed-market payments, where newer models such as USDG, M^0 infrastructure and bank-issued multi-issuer networks are trying to win share. How issuers and partners split the yield earned on reserves may decide who wins.
What the BIS Paper Found
A BIS working paper by Rashad Ahmed and Iñaki Aldasoro, titled "Are stablecoins and bank deposits substitutes?", studied weekly U.S. data from January 2019 to June 2025. Its main findings:
- Higher bank deposit rates predict slower stablecoin growth.
- Against average ten-week stablecoin growth of about 15%, a one basis point rise in deposit rates was associated with growth slowing to roughly 12% under the simpler estimate, and to about 6% under the authors' preferred method, as CoinDesk summarized.
- The effect was stronger for USDC than for USDT, which the authors link to USDC's closer ties to U.S. users.
- The effect did not appear for non-stablecoin crypto assets.
The authors note that the study covers a single high-rate period and does not show that stablecoins reduce total bank deposits or lending. Still, it suggests that part of stablecoin demand depends on what banks pay savers, which is useful context when interest rate expectations shift.
Visa Puts USDC to Work Behind the Scenes
On October 15, Visa announced that stablecoin prefunding for Visa Direct has moved from pilot to commercial production, with Inyo Global as the first processor to offer it. Eligible businesses can now prefund cross-border payouts with USDC in near real time, including outside traditional banking hours, through Inyo's existing APIs. Inyo supports payouts to more than 180 countries. Recipients can still receive local fiat currency, so the stablecoin works as funding infrastructure rather than something the end user has to hold.
Why It Matters for Crypto Traders
For people who swap tokens regularly, these trends have practical implications:
- Stablecoin liquidity is moving faster, not necessarily growing, so the depth of a specific pool or pair still matters more than headline market cap.
- USDT and USDC are used differently, which can affect which stablecoin pair offers the better rate on a given network.
- Rate changes by central banks and commercial banks can influence stablecoin demand, especially for USDC.
- Regulation remains a key variable. Standard Chartered flags the U.S. GENIUS Act, due to take effect in January 2027, and whether other countries follow it, as a major risk to its forecast.
What to Watch Next
- Whether stablecoin supply breaks out of the $300 billion to $320 billion range if crypto prices recover.
- How U.S. deposit rates move after upcoming Federal Reserve decisions.
- More payment networks moving stablecoin pilots into production.
- Final rules under the GENIUS Act ahead of January 2027.
The Bottom Line
Stablecoins are not growing in size right now, but they are being used more intensively and are becoming part of mainstream payment plumbing. For traders, that makes stablecoin pairs even more central to everyday swaps. On AviorSwap, you can swap supported assets, including major stablecoins, across the 17+ networks listed on the platform. Check the available pairs and current rates before each trade.