Stablecoins outperform Visa in transaction volume
Stablecoins have officially eclipsed Visa in transaction volume, marking a major milestone in the evolution of digital finance.
According to Bitwise’s Q1 2025 Crypto Market Review, fiat-pegged stablecoins processed over $27.6 trillion in payments last year — narrowly topping Visa’s totals and beating Mastercard by 7.7%, reports Cryptopolitan.
The report showed that stablecoin assets under management reached an all-time high of $218 billion in Q1, up 13.5% from the prior quarter. USDT, USDC, and DAI dominated the market, with 95% of volume settled on the Ethereum network. The average weekly transaction volume for Q4 2024 reached $464 billion, according to Social Capital CEO Chamath Palihapitiya, compared to Visa’s $316 billion.
Critics challenge stablecoin volume metrics
Despite the headline figures, analysts remain skeptical about the validity of the numbers. Dan Smith of Blockworks Research and Joe Coll of Maven 11 Capital both warned that much of the stablecoin volume may be inflated or “recycled,” driven by trading activity rather than genuine commerce.
Rajiv Patel-O’Connor of Framework Ventures went further, calling the metric “useless” for measuring real-world adoption. Visa’s own internal data suggests that only 10% of stablecoin transactions represent actual payments, in stark contrast to its own network, where every transaction is tied to a real purchase.
Visa embraces stablecoins despite skepticism
Even as critics debate the metrics, Visa is adapting. The company announced a partnership with Bridge to issue stablecoin-linked Visa cards across Latin America, starting in Argentina, Mexico, and Colombia. The rollout will expand to Europe, Africa, and Asia later this year.
Visa says the move is about interoperability — merging the programmability of stablecoins with the reliability of traditional payment rails. “The moment is now,” said Jack Forestell, Visa’s Chief Product Officer.
Recently we wrote that the analytical firms Dune and Artemis have published a joint report providing a comprehensive overview of the stablecoin market from February 2024 to February 2025.
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