Once a supporting actor, stablecoins now assume a central role on the global financial stage. Their annual transaction volumes pushed even Visa’s and Mastercard’s performance out of the spotlight. How did that happen? This chapter explores the explosive growth of stablecoins, their role in reshaping digital payments, and why they offer a compelling, revenue-generating opportunity for businesses and entrepreneurs.
Stablecoins: The Most Lucrative Business Onchain
Do stablecoins truly open remarkable conditions to enable business onchain? The answer is yes! But where lies their massive potential? And what differentiates them from other blockchain ventures? We went out to get answers and came back with this report, including practical insights for entrepreneurs. Follow us through the landscape as we explore the business opportunities. Get data to support decisions related to stablecoin integration or protocol building.
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2. The Stablecoin Landscape’s Fertile Business Ground
Stablecoins come in variations, each with unique characteristics. From decentralized protocols to corporate stablecoins, they offer financial tools that enhance liquidity and improve global transaction operations and payment systems. Follow us through the landscape as we explore the opportunities they open for businesses. Get insights that help you make informed decisions when integrating stablecoins into your business model or building your own protocol.
3. How Businesses Generate Revenue With Stablecoins
It's time to move beyond the stability aspect of this digital asset class. We're looking at the financial engine of the blockchain. Stablecoin-based revenue models are scalable and reliable, as the record-breaking profit of Tether or PayPal's foray into stablecoins proves. This chapter dives into how stablecoins generate consistent cash flows. We evaluate practical steps businesses and individuals can take to leverage stablecoins for operational efficiency and passive income.
4. Adoption-Drivers, Emerging Markets, and Your Chance to Expand
Emerging economies are at the forefront of global stablecoin adoption. What drives them are economic instability, inflation, and limited access to traditional finance. Institutions seek reliable alternatives to volatile local currencies for cross-border payments and remittances. Individuals yearn for financial inclusion. This chapter uncovers success stories, challenges, and profitable opportunities for entrepreneurs and businesses to harness this transformative trend.
5. Stablecoins — The Backbone of the Web3 Business Ecosystem
It’s a wrap! This concluding chapter consolidates the most significant findings of the report. You’ll find a summary of why stablecoins have emerged as the cornerstone of Web3 and how they became a transformative tool for businesses worldwide.
Key
Takeaways
- Emerging economies use stablecoins at rates 2-3x higher than advanced economies. For the populations of Argentina, Turkey, and Nigeria, where inflation rates are skyrocketing, and financial inclusion is nothing but an empty promise, stablecoins act as a lifeline.
- High adoption rates signal untapped growth opportunities for entrepreneurs. Our survey shows that businesses everywhere are surprisingly open to integrating stablecoins. In emerging markets, 48% have adopted or piloted stablecoin solutions, and 40% are actively exploring adoption.
- A direct comparison between traditional money transfer services and stablecoins reveals clear advantages to the latter in all but one point.
- US$-pegged stablecoins like USDT and USDC account for over 99% of the market, leveraging the dollar’s status as the global reserve currency. However, rising interest in alternatives such as EUR-backed EURC and IDR-backed stablecoins reflects growing demand for diversification, especially in regions that aim to reduce reliance on the U.S. dollar.
- Stablecoins power nearly a third of all daily crypto activity, second only to DeFi, where they enable lending, borrowing, and yield generation. Due to their Interoperability across blockchain networks, stablecoins have become essential for Web3 infrastructure and foster innovation.
- Stablecoins are among the few Web3 use cases with an established market fit. The same can’t be said about CBDCs. The challenges to address now are regulatory uncertainty, dependence on centralized issuers, and technical bottlenecks like scalability.
Led by
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Leon Waidmann
Head of Research
Conducted by
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Ananya Shrivastava
Research Analyst
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Ambreen Khral
Market Researcher
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Arin Soleymani
Head of Business Development
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Michał Moneta
Leader & Chief Strategy Officer
Contributors
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Ruth M. Trucks
Head of Content
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Lucas De Melo
UX Designer
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Chris Braithwaite
Content & Technical Writer
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Kade Garrett
Blockchain Writer
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Veronica Kirin
Content Writer
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Adewale Aloba
Graphic Designer
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Ashton Barger
Product Marketing Manager
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Boris Agatić
Data Scientist
Thought Leaders
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Jessica Gaubert
Co-Founder and COO, Haraka
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Oyedeji Oluwoye
Co-Founder, Canza Finance
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Rune Christensen
Co-Founder, Sky Protocol
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Eneko Knorr
Co-Founder and CEO, Stabolut
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Cyrille Briere
Contributor, fxProtocol
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Erwan Mismaque
Head of Onchain Finance, Lisk
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Patrick Hansen
Senior Director, EU Strategy & Policy, Circle
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Sanja Kon
VP of Partnerships & Business Development, Europe, Circle
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Jeremy Allaire
Founder, Circle
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Martin de Rijke
Head of Growth, Maple Finance
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Christian Duffus
Co-Founder, Fonbnk
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Paolo Ardoino
Founder, Tether
How did we approach the research?
The research was guided by a deductive methodology, designed to test the hypothesis that stablecoins represent the most lucrative onchain business opportunity. By blending quantitative data with qualitative insights, the study aimed to evaluate their transformative potential for financial ecosystems, focusing on their impact on both businesses and consumers.
Methodology
The research adopted a structured, hypothesis-driven approach to evaluate stablecoins as a transformative onchain financial tool. The methodology included:
Data collection and analysis
- Quantitative analysis
- Data scope: Analysis of transaction volumes, adoption rates, and revenues from stablecoin projects (e.g., Tether, USDC) compared to traditional payment networks (e.g., Visa, Mastercard) up to Q3 2024.
- Key metrics: The comparison focuses on efficiency, cost savings, and scalability to demonstrate the value stablecoins bring to both businesses and consumers.
- Outcome: Highlights how stablecoins outperform traditional systems in terms of transaction efficiency, cost reductions, and yield-generation opportunities.
- Case studies
- Selected examples:
- PayPal (PYUSD): A case study showcasing cost efficiencies and increased user adoption through stablecoin integration.
- Stripe (USDC): Demonstrates how stablecoins streamline payment processes for global businesses.
- Purpose: To provide real-world examples of stablecoins’ strategic and operational benefits in different industries.
- Selected examples:
- Classification of economies
- Framework used: This report classifies countries as either “Advanced Economies” or “Emerging and Developing Economies” based on the IMF Data on Advanced Economies and Emerging and Developing Economies.
- Relevance: This classification enables a structured analysis of how stablecoin adoption varies across different economic contexts, providing insights into tailored use cases and regional trends.
- Secondary sources
- Literature review: Includes analysis of industry reports, academic papers, and market insights related to stablecoin applications and their regulatory environments.
- Regulatory documents: Provides an understanding of global regulatory landscapes, focusing on emerging challenges and opportunities for stablecoin integration.
- Expert interviews
- Participants: Conversations with industry professionals, including blockchain developers, payment service providers, and regulatory experts.
- Focus areas:
- Trends in stablecoin adoption and innovation.
- Challenges in regulation and compliance.
- Insights into future opportunities for stablecoin applications in business models.
- Outcome: This report adds qualitative depth to the quantitative data and case studies, providing a holistic view of stablecoin business models.
Survey methodology
The survey captured responses from 1,450 participants divided into the following four segments:
- Consumers in advanced economies: 350 respondents.
- Consumers in emerging economies: 365 respondents.
- Businesses in advanced economies: 370 respondents.
- Businesses in emerging economies: 365 respondents.
Participants represented a mix of individuals and businesses of various sizes. Most were active cryptocurrency users, often with full-time jobs or entrepreneurial backgrounds, offering diverse perspectives. The survey’s classification of countries followed the IMF’s “Advanced Economies” and “Emerging and Developing Economies” categories to ensure accurate segmentation.
Survey limitations:
- Sample size: While responses allow identification of broad trends, they do not support statistically robust group comparisons.
- Sample bias: The majority of respondents were already familiar with cryptocurrency, which may skew results toward more favorable views on stablecoin adoption.
- Geographic constraints: The findings are segmented by advanced and emerging economies but may not represent uniform global stablecoin adoption.
Research limitations
- Geographic representation
Using the IMF classification of advanced and emerging economies, some regions or smaller economies may be underrepresented due to limited data availability.
- Data precision
- Stablecoin metrics: Aggregated figures from Tether, USDC, and others may obscure regional or sector-specific drivers of adoption.
- Traditional comparisons: Data from networks like Visa and Mastercard may align differently with blockchain-based metrics, limiting precision in comparisons.
- Regulatory landscape
The evolving nature of stablecoin regulations may affect the relevance of some findings over time as policies continue to shift globally.
- Case study generalization
Examples like PayPal (PYUSD), Stripe (USDC), and Grab (USDC) illustrate benefits but may only partially capture the diversity of use cases across industries and regions.
- Focus on USD-pegged stablecoins
The emphasis on USD-pegged stablecoins may limit insights into stablecoins tied to other currencies or alternative models like algorithmic or commodity-backed stablecoins.
- Emerging use cases
The report highlights key applications, such as remittances, but leaves other emerging use cases, like gaming or tokenized real-world assets, less explored.
- Technological assumptions
Findings assume stablecoins retain their current advantages, but shifts in blockchain scalability, regulatory pressures, or macroeconomic conditions could alter their impact.