Artemis Research Report: First-line data from stablecoin payment adoption

This study presents a new dataset of 31 stablecoin-based payment companies that process transactions on behalf of end users, including a survey of 20 stablecoin-based payment companies and combined with estimates from 11 other companies covering a variety of sectors (including B2B, P2P, B2C, card payments, and pre-funding). This is the most comprehensive report to date and is believed to cover the majority of transaction volumes in the emerging stablecoin payment space.

Original text: Stablecoin Payments from the Ground Up

Author: Artemis, Castle Island, Dragonfly

Translated by: Will Awang , investment and financing lawyer, focusing on Web3 & Digital Asset; independent researcher, focusing on tokenization, RWA, payment, DeSci

Cover: Photo by Shubham Dhage on Unsplash

As we all know, stablecoins have evolved from being a medium of exchange that facilitates crypto transactions (without relying on banking instruments) to a more widely used tool for consumer and corporate payments. Recently, major payment companies such as Visa, Mastercard and Stripe have begun to incorporate stablecoins into their payment processes.

In the context of such a trend, as a major emerging payment and settlement network based on blockchain, the overall supply of stablecoins is about $239 billion, which was less than $10 billion five years ago. About 10 million blockchain addresses conduct stablecoin transactions every day. More than 150 million blockchain addresses hold non-zero stablecoin balances.

Although it is difficult to accurately estimate transaction volumes, areas such as decentralized finance (DeFi, $7.8 trillion), centralized exchanges ($4.3 trillion), and verified extractable value (MEV, $1.9 trillion) have annualized transaction volumes of more than $1 trillion and support a variety of application scenarios. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) also estimates that about $400 billion in cross-border transactions are settled through USDC and USDT each year.

More than 99% of stablecoins are referenced to the U.S. dollar and are accordingly backed by U.S. dollar assets. If stablecoins were considered a country, they would be the 14th largest holder of U.S. Treasury bonds. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent once said: "We want to maintain the United States' position as the world's leading reserve currency, and we will use stablecoins to achieve this goal." The Treasury's Lending Advisory Committee estimates that the supply of stablecoins will grow to $2 trillion by 2028.

However, specific data on stablecoin payments has historically been scarce and is usually estimated through a top-down approach (i.e., looking at all stablecoin transactions on the chain and trying to remove noise sources), but these estimates are still incomplete. Last year, Artemis, Castle Island, and Visa jointly released a survey of five emerging market countries to try to understand how ordinary stablecoin users use stablecoins in their economic lives. But specific data on the amount of known stablecoin payments does not exist.

To this end, Artemis, in collaboration with Castle Island and Dragonfly, presents in this study a new dataset provided by 31 stablecoin-based payment companies that process transactions on behalf of end users, including a survey of 20 stablecoin-based payment companies and combined with estimates from 11 other companies covering a variety of sectors (including B2B, P2P, B2C, card payments, and pre-funding). This is the most comprehensive report to date and is believed to cover most of the transaction volume in the emerging stablecoin payment sector.

Through research, we were able to obtain the following data:

• From January 2023 to February 2025, the amount that can be clearly attributed to stablecoin payments reaches $94.2 billion. As of February 2025, stablecoin payments in the sample have reached an annualized run rate of $72.3 billion.
• B2B payments ($36 billion on an annualized basis) were the most active, followed by P2P ($18 billion run rate), card-linked payments ($13.2 billion), B2C ($3.3 billion), and pre-financing ($2.5 billion), with all sectors showing rapid growth except P2P.
• Among the sample companies, Tether’s USDT is the most widely used stablecoin, accounting for about 90% of the market share by transaction volume, followed by Circle’s USDC. Tron is the most popular blockchain by transaction volume, followed by Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, and Polygon.

Although the samples covered do not represent a complete picture of global stablecoin payments, we can still see the adoption of stablecoins in global payment scenarios from the front-line data in this report, including regional distribution and transaction categories.

Therefore, this article compiles Artemis’ latest research report: Stablecoin Payments from the Ground Up , in order to provide guidance for us in the era of crypto navigation.

Original report: https://reports.artemisanalytics.com/stablecoins/artemis-stablecoin-payments-from-the-ground-up-2025.pdf

1. Core indicators of stablecoins

Based on data from contributing companies and additional on-chain estimates, we are able to describe $94.2 billion in stablecoin settlements across payment types between January 2023 and February 2025, with the vast majority of settlements being done directly on the blockchain. The average annual processing rate for these settlements reaches approximately $72.3 billion in February 2025.

B2B payments account for the majority of traffic, followed by P2P transfers, then card payments (usually debit or prepaid cards linked to a stablecoin wallet), and B2C payments.

The most popular blockchain for settling customer flows by value sent is Tron, followed by Ethereum, Polygon, and Binance Smart Chain. This echoes findings from our 2024 report, which found that users prioritized these five blockchains, though Ethereum was the most popular network at the time.

The data used in the chart below is a representative subset of all data provided by the companies that provided data (57%), as not all participants reported their flows by blockchain. These data were also verified and compared with Artemis estimates obtained by directly monitoring blockchain nodes.

Most of the companies that participated in providing data use multiple blockchains for stablecoin settlement. TRON, Ethereum, and Binance Smart Chain are the most popular networks among the companies included in this research, although there is a longer tail of supported blockchains.

Among the sample of companies surveyed, Tether’s USDT is the most popular stablecoin used by the researched companies to settle fund flows, far exceeding other stablecoins. We will explore the comparison of USDT and Circle’s USDC usage in various countries later in the report.

Based on geographic data provided by participating companies, combined with additional estimates of geographic attribution obtained by looking at the IP address and time zone of on-chain entities when transactions reach blockchain nodes, we are able to identify the countries that generate the majority of stablecoin transactions. The United States, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, and the United Kingdom are the top stablecoin sending countries.

Among the companies included in this study, the Singapore-China corridor emerged as the most active corridor for stablecoin flows. The next seven largest corridors all involve the United States, highlighting the centrality of the United States in global stablecoin use. Singapore and Hong Kong also appear frequently, reflecting their importance as regional financial centers and their deep integration in cross-border stablecoin activities.

One use for cross-border payments is as an alternative to remittances, which remain expensive around the world, especially outside of more widely used channels. Remittances based on stablecoins can flow directly between exchanges, reducing costs and delays. In countries with high cryptocurrency adoption, such as India, Nigeria, and Mexico, remittances settled over blockchain rails have replaced traditional remittances, which are implemented through correspondent banks or fintech companies like Wise or Remitly.

Case A — Binance Pay Consumer Payment Tool

Binance Pay is a contactless, borderless and secure global cryptocurrency payment solution embedded in Binance Exchange. Binance is the world's largest centralized exchange with more than 270 million registered users. Binance Pay allows users and merchants to make cryptocurrency payments worldwide without paying any gas fees. Binance Pay brings the power of cryptocurrency to everyday transactions. Currently, Binance Pay supports:

• 300+ cryptocurrencies for crypto-to-crypto payments (Binance users can instantly send and receive crypto to other Binance users).
• 100+ cryptocurrencies for business-to-consumer (B2C) payments (pay with crypto at online and offline merchants on Binance Payments worldwide).
• A global ecosystem with 40 million+ active payment users and 32,000+ merchants .

Binance Pay aims to make cryptocurrencies practical, accessible, and useful in everyday life - from P2P transfers to seamless payments in thousands of online and physical stores, it provides users with instant transactions with zero mining fees, multi-currency support, and seamless transactions through QR codes, in-app processes, or payment links for online and physical merchants. Currently, Binance Pay has been integrated with Pix, an instant payment system developed by the Central Bank of Brazil with more than 174 million users and 15 million businesses, which enables users to make real-time cryptocurrency payments with Brazilian reais.

For merchants, Binance Payments offers many advantages:

• Real-time Settlement : Transactions are processed and settled instantly in cryptocurrency.
• Cross-border payment support : Send and receive cryptocurrency payments worldwide without bank restrictions.
• QR Code, In-App Payment or Payment Link : Seamlessly accept cryptocurrency payments for online and in-store merchants.
• Direct Debit and Pre-Authorization : Enable recurring or automatic payments with a single authorization from your customer - ideal for use cases like subscriptions, travel or transportation.
• Invoicing : Create and send cryptocurrency invoices with QR codes for easy payment.
• Payments : Instantly distribute cryptocurrency at scale - for global payroll, supplier payments, loyalty rewards, tax refunds, and more.

Case B — BVNK Enterprise Stablecoin Payment Infrastructure

BVNK provides stablecoin payment infrastructure, integrating banks and blockchains onto one platform to accelerate global money flows. Although stablecoins offer compelling advantages such as instant global settlement, businesses often struggle to integrate them at scale. BVNK addresses this problem by:

• BVNK’s automatic conversion feature means businesses don’t need to touch stablecoins directly – they can hold funds in USD, GBP or EUR.
• Proprietary infrastructure and modular APIs with consistency across fiat and crypto currencies ensure fast integration and flexibility.

Through its stablecoin infrastructure, BVNK works with fintechs and enterprises with global payment use cases:

• Worldpay, one of the world’s largest merchant acquirers, uses BVNK’s embedded wallet to offer its customers instant global payments in stablecoins — to partners, customers, contractors, creators, sellers, and more in over 180 markets. Payments are made from fiat balances, so there’s no need for Worldpay or its customers to handle or hold cryptocurrencies.
• Deel, the platform of record for employers, uses BVNK to pay stablecoins to over 10,000 freelancers in over 100 countries. Workers can choose to receive their salary payments in stablecoins to ensure fast payments and as a hedge against inflation in their local currency.
• Digital asset finance platform Bitwave has partnered with BVNK to integrate its stablecoin payment functionality into its invoicing software so that its business clients can receive stablecoin payments from customers and automatically convert them into fiat currency — or vice versa.

BVNK's infrastructure connects major stablecoins with traditional banking functions and is supported by regulatory licenses in multiple jurisdictions. The company recently launched Layer1, a self-custodial infrastructure product that allows financial institutions to integrate stablecoin functionality and efficiently coordinate cross-border payments between stablecoins and traditional payment rails.

BVNK’s approach to unifying traditional and blockchain financial systems positions it to be a key enabler of the next phase of digital payment innovation.

2. Global Regional Adoption

This section summarizes key findings at a regional level based on available country-specific data. 52% of the companies included in the broader study provided geographic reporting, allowing us to analyze stablecoin usage patterns in a regional and country context.

These insights reveal how stablecoin-driven companies, including fintechs, exchanges, payment platforms, and on-ramp providers, operate across markets. By examining regional behavior, we can identify where companies settle transactions, what their preferred blockchains and stablecoins are, and how local infrastructure influences product design and user engagement.

2.1 Latin America

Across Latin America, Tron dominates as the primary blockchain for stablecoin settlement, particularly in Colombia, Ecuador, and Brazil, where it accounts for the majority of observed activity in these regions. In contrast, in Argentina and Peru, Ethereum remains the leading blockchain, surpassing Tron in these markets. Polygon has modest usage in Argentina and Peru, while BSC has gained significant traction in Chile, Brazil, and Ecuador.

In Latin America, USDT is the leading stablecoin by transfer volume. Unlike other markets, Argentina is the only country in the region where USDC has achieved a significant share, accounting for nearly half of stablecoin transactions. In Brazil, Chile and Colombia, USDC usage has only grown moderately, while in Ecuador and Peru it is almost negligible.

Other stablecoins, such as PYUSD and DAI, have seen little activity in the countries analyzed. USDC’s widespread presence in Argentina compared to other regional markets may reflect the country’s ongoing monetary instability prompting the establishment of more venture-backed startups. In contrast, stablecoin usage in neighboring countries remains largely dependent on the long-standing USDT-based system.

Case C——Bitso focuses on cross-border payments for Latin American companies

Bitso Business offers a suite of stablecoin-powered financial services to businesses in Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico), the United States, and Europe, with a focus on revolutionizing cross-border payments.

• Bitso Business provides solutions that leverage stablecoins and other digital assets, enabling businesses of all sizes to make cross-border payments faster, more transparent and more cost-effective.
• Businesses can streamline international transactions, manage multi-currency operations, and reduce the complexity and fees associated with traditional banking systems. This enables shorter cross-border settlement times and improved cash flow management.
• Bitso Business provides a powerful API and enterprise-grade infrastructure that enables businesses to integrate cryptocurrency-driven payments into existing business processes. This enables businesses to send and receive funds internationally with greater flexibility and control.
• Innovation within Bitso Business, such as the development of fiat-backed stablecoins like MXNB, a fully-reserve Mexican Peso stablecoin, demonstrates their commitment to providing customized solutions for specific regional needs.
• By providing a regulated and secure platform, Bitso Business is becoming a key partner for Latin American businesses, as well as for global companies that would like to operate in Latin America and want to optimize their cross-border payment processes.

Case D——Conduit uses stablecoins to connect cross-border and local payments

At Conduit, we enable businesses to seamlessly transact between stablecoins and local fiat currencies, covering a wide range of domestic payment rails. By integrating with our API, payment platforms, fintechs, and neobanks can offer stablecoin-assisted cross-border payment services to their customers — enabling them to make fast, low-fee payments in USD and over 10 other currencies.

Why stablecoin-powered payments are critical to business:

• Near-instant settlement speeds significantly reduce payment transit time, freeing up funds for businesses’ working capital and credit needs.
• Businesses in Brazil settle payments in euros more than 500 times faster with Conduit, saving thousands of hours of transaction settlement time each year.
• In markets where local currencies are volatile, stablecoins allow businesses to keep their treasury denominated in U.S. dollars while still making fast domestic payments.
• In 2024, Colombian companies held their treasury in a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar, reducing the inflation rate of their funds from 6.6% to 2.96%.
• Blockchain’s transparency and increased settlement speed removes the black box of cross-border payments, eliminating the need for MT103 and other traditional transaction verification methods.
• Stablecoin payments are instant and immutable, reducing the time required for reconciliation and lowering operating costs.

2.2 Africa

In the African market, Tron and Ethereum are the main blockchains for stablecoin settlement. Tron leads in six of the ten African countries analyzed, including Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mauritius, Morocco, and Seychelles, while Ethereum is the most used blockchain in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda. BSC is in a secondary position, contributing a modest but stable volume in countries such as Egypt, Morocco, and South Africa.

USDT is the dominant stablecoin in all analyzed African markets, consistently accounting for the majority of transfers. However, USDC has also shown significant adoption in some countries (notably Nigeria, Uganda, South Africa, and Kenya), where it has a significant minority share. In contrast, USDC usage is minimal in markets such as Egypt, Ethiopia, and Morocco.

Case E——Yellow Card Pioneer in Stablecoin Application in Africa

Yellow Card is Africa's largest and first licensed stablecoin company, operating in 20 countries. We enable individuals and businesses of all sizes to easily make international payments, protect their financial assets, manage their treasury functions, and access hard currency liquidity. Our 25,000+ customers are primarily businesses using stablecoins for B2B payments.

Stablecoins solve a critical problem for Africa’s monetary and banking systems. More than 70% of African countries face a foreign exchange shortage crisis. In many markets, local bank debit cards cannot be used internationally, banks cannot process cross-border payments, and access to US dollars is severely limited.

Stablecoins don’t replace local currency transactions — they replace payments that previously relied on the SWIFT network, which is expensive, slow, and inefficient. Stablecoins offer a faster, cheaper, and simpler alternative. Yellow Card has already facilitated over $5 billion in transactions.

In economies like Nigeria, stablecoins have become a must-have tool for enabling dollar payments without the need for hard currency to leave the country. Africa is at the forefront of practical applications of stablecoins, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain technology.

2.3 North America and the Caribbean

Stablecoin settlement in North America and the Caribbean follows global trends, with Tron and Ethereum being the dominant networks in all markets surveyed. Tron consistently holds a majority in terms of transaction volume, surpassing Ethereum in every country except Jamaica, where both blockchains are roughly evenly used. BSC shows modest but visible activity in several markets, including Bermuda, the Dominican Republic, and Jamaica. Other networks such as Polygon, XRP, and Solana have minimal or no adoption in the region. Ethereum has a strong presence in the United States compared to most countries.

In North America and the Caribbean, stablecoin activity is concentrated in USDT, which consistently accounts for the majority of volume across all markets. USDC, while in the background, has measurable adoption in some countries, particularly in the United States, where it accounts for almost a quarter of stablecoin volume. Other markets such as Mexico, Panama, and Jamaica also show modest but visible USDC usage, while in Bermuda, Canada, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico, USDC presence remains low. Similarly, PYUSD and DAI are virtually non-existent across all markets studied.

2.4 Europe

Tron leads in stablecoin settlement volume in almost all European markets covered in this study, continuing its trend as the most widely used network worldwide. Spain is the only exception, where Ethereum accounts for a larger proportion of stablecoin activity. Ethereum maintains a consistent secondary role across the region, with notable adoption in countries such as the Netherlands, Portugal, and Switzerland. BSC contributes modest volumes in select markets, notably Finland and Belgium, while Polygon appears only insignificantly.

USDT dominates stablecoin usage in all analyzed European countries, consistently accounting for more than 90% of transfers. USDC activity is limited to a limited range, with its share remaining below 10% in each market. Other stablecoins, including PYUSD and DAI, are almost non-existent in the dataset.

2.5 Asia

Asia exhibits the most diverse network distribution of all regions analyzed. While Tron leads in most markets, Ethereum and BSC have also achieved considerable adoption in several countries. Notably, India is the only country where Polygon has a significant market share - a finding that is not surprising given that Polygon was founded in the country. This relatively fragmented landscape suggests that there is a greater diversity of local infrastructure, exchange integrations, and user behaviors in Asia.

In the Asian markets covered in this study, USDT is the dominant stablecoin by a wide margin. The only exception is India, where USDC accounts for a significant share - almost half of all observed stablecoin trading volume. In other countries, USDC usage, while present, is limited in scope, while alternative stablecoins like PYUSD and DAI show little or no adoption.

2.6 Overall Observation

Across all regions analyzed, USDT is the dominant stablecoin by a wide margin, with USDC a distant but clearly established second. These two stablecoins account for the vast majority of observed trading volume, far outstripping all other alternatives.

In terms of blockchain infrastructure, a similar trend is seen: Tron leads in overall usage, followed by Ethereum, with both networks far ahead of the rest in terms of stablecoin settlement activity. While this hierarchy remains constant across most regions, Asian markets show relatively greater diversity in blockchain usage.

Currently, global stablecoin activity is mainly concentrated in USDT and USDC transactions on Tron and Ethereum.

III. Adoption of different transaction categories

3.1 Business to Business (B2B)

While stablecoins are often associated with retail use and remittances, an increasing amount of volume is driven by B2B transactions. This section explores how companies can use stablecoins for cross-border payments, supplier settlements, treasury operations, and other enterprise use cases.

Among the companies in this study, total stablecoin B2B transaction volume has grown significantly, from less than $100 million per month in early 2023 to more than $3 billion by early 2025. This steady rise reflects the growing adoption of stablecoins by businesses for use cases such as supplier payments, vendor invoicing, and collateral transfers. The sharp acceleration in the second half of 2024 suggests that for many businesses, stablecoins have moved from the experimental stage to core financial operations.

Among the businesses in this study, USDT remains the dominant stablecoin for B2B transfers, although USDC maintains a sizable share, accounting for approximately 30% of average monthly volume.

There are significant differences in the average B2B transaction size across different blockchains. Notably, Tron and Ethereum recorded nearly identical average transaction sizes (over $219,000 per transaction), suggesting that they are the preferred channels for high-value corporate transfers among the companies included in this study. In contrast, BSC and Polygon had significantly lower average transaction sizes, suggesting that they are more often used for small-scale or high-frequency business activities.

3.2 Card Payment

As stablecoin infrastructure matures, one of the fastest growing applications is card-based spending. With support from fintech issuers and crypto-native platforms, stablecoin-linked cards enable global users to pay with digital dollars in real-world scenarios. This section explores how businesses and consumers use stablecoins to fund card transactions, providing insights into adoption trends, transaction behavior, and network-level distribution.

Among the companies studied, transaction volumes for stablecoin-linked card payments show steady and significant growth, from approximately $250 million per month in early 2023 to over $1 billion by the end of 2024. Growth over this period is relatively flat.

The usage patterns of stablecoin-linked cards are very similar to those of traditional cards, indicating that they are likely to be used for everyday purchases and regular payments. The average transaction size of two well-known crypto card management platforms, Exa and Gnosis Pay, is roughly comparable to the average transaction size of traditional credit and debit card products. This further reinforces the idea that users increasingly view stablecoin cards as functional equivalents of existing payment tools.

Case F — Reap’s stablecoin solution from corporate Visa card issuance to cross-border payments

Reap is a fintech company that provides modern businesses with infrastructure that supports stablecoins, enabling global, borderless finance. As Asia's leading stablecoin debit card issuer, Reap processes billions of stablecoin payments every month.

Reap provides financial services that support stablecoins for businesses of all sizes. For businesses familiar with Web3 and digital assets, Reap Direct offers a comprehensive business account that includes corporate cards, payments, and expense management. Businesses can manage their digital asset treasury, fiat currency fees, and financial operations in one integrated account.

Through our API-driven embedded finance solutions, businesses can integrate Reap’s stablecoin services — from Visa card issuance to cross-border payments — directly into their systems and build new solutions.

Our clients include the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges and fast-growing neo-banks such as KAST. Headquartered in Hong Kong, China, Reap adheres to the highest regulatory and compliance requirements of one of the world's top financial centers, with access to major financial institutions and global currencies, enabling efficient and cost-effective capital flows.

3.3 Peer-to-Peer Payment

P2P payments are one of the earliest use cases for stablecoins, offering a faster, cheaper and more accessible alternative to traditional remittance and funds transfer channels. This use case gained momentum early in regions facing currency instability, limited banking services or high cross-border fees.

An early major catalyst for the scale of this behavior was Binance Pay C2C, which enabled Binance Pay users around the world to send stablecoins directly to other Binance Pay users in real time. Since then, we have witnessed the emergence of a wide range of stablecoin P2P use cases around the world. Today, stablecoin P2P usage covers individuals, informal businesses, and online communities, consolidating its position in global stablecoin applications.

Unlike other sectors, P2P payments among sample firms remain flat throughout the observation period, ending at a run rate of $18 billion in February 2025. At the beginning of 2023, P2P transfers comprised the vast majority of all stablecoin-based payments, but have since fallen significantly, lagging far behind recent B2B payments.

The low-cost nature of stablecoin transfers unlocks a wider range of use cases, especially for small transactions. Platforms like Sling and Celo P2P record average transaction sizes that are significantly lower than traditional alternatives like Zelle ($277) and global remittance services ($250), which typically charge higher fees. This cost efficiency makes stablecoins useful not only for high-value remittances, but also for lightweight, frequent peer-to-peer payments.

3.4 Business to Consumer (B2C)

B2C payments are another fast-growing area of stablecoin adoption, particularly in use cases where individuals receive payments (such as payroll transactions) or use digital dollars to make regular purchases. The B2C analysis for this study focuses on two key players: Binance Pay and Orbital, both of which support stablecoin-based consumer payments across a variety of industries. Among these players, transaction volumes have increased significantly, from approximately $50 million per month in early 2023 to over $300 million by early 2025. This growth highlights the expanding role of stablecoins in everyday digital commerce and service platforms.

3.5 Prefunding

Pre-funding is when a business sends funds, typically in fiat, upfront before a transaction is completed to ensure that the transaction can be completed seamlessly. In stablecoin-based transfers, this often means delivering local currency to the recipient’s destination before the underlying stablecoin is settled or converted back into fiat. This creates a short-term funding gap for the sender, who takes on the risk and responsibility of covering the pre-funded payment. Arf and Mansa are two companies that help solve this problem by providing short-term funding to stablecoin businesses, enabling them to provide pre-funded cross-border payments, supplier payments, and working capital without tying up their own cash. Loan volumes from these providers have been growing steadily, particularly in 2024 and early 2025, highlighting the increasing demand for flexible on-chain liquidity solutions in global finance.

Case G — Huma Finance leverages on-chain PayFi innovation to meet cross-border funding needs

Huma Finance provides on-demand stablecoin liquidity through its PayFi network, enabling licensed financial institutions to complete cross-border transactions and stablecoin-backed card payment settlements without traditional pre-funding. This innovative approach addresses the $4 trillion in funds currently held in bank accounts worldwide for payment settlements.

Key funding use cases:

• Cross-border payment financing: Partnering with global payment institutions through the regulated entity Arf Financial
• Stablecoin-backed card solution: enabling settlement with Visa/Mastercard networks
• Marketplace Payments Acceleration: A pilot with Amazon’s payment partners reduced supplier payment times in Asia from days to less than 3 hours. Amazon processes approximately $1 trillion in payments annually, typically collecting payments from U.S. buyers and paying suppliers in Asia.
• Instant Merchant Settlement: Eliminate multi-day wait times for card payment processing

Huma minimizes risk by using protected on-chain funds to fund transactions already in the system. Growth has been driven primarily by expanding stablecoin liquidity, particularly since launching on Solana. Additionally, the recent launch of Huma 2.0 represents a significant protocol innovation, expanding PayFi access from institutions to everyday retail investors. Finally, through Arf, Huma serves licensed financial institutions around the world and is committed to expanding its business as global stablecoin regulatory frameworks become more clear.

IV. Conclusion

This survey shows that stablecoins are evolving from a niche tool to an alternative but significant means of global payments. Our analysis of data from 31 stablecoin payment companies shows that more than $94.2 billion in payments were settled between January 2023 and February 2025. These payments are ordinary transactions, not economic activities related to trading or speculation.

Business-to-business (B2B) transactions were the largest usage category, with a notable annual run rate of $36 billion, highlighting the adoption of stablecoins in cross-border payments, treasury management, and supplier settlements. Card-linked stablecoin payments also grew significantly, with annual transaction volume exceeding $13.2 billion.

Consistent with previous findings, our survey participants reported that payments were dominated by USDT, followed by USDC, and were primarily settled on the Tron and Ethereum blockchains.

Overall, stablecoins have established themselves as a growing and important component of the global payments infrastructure, with their use expanding across transaction types and regions, demonstrating their growing importance in the international economic system.

Appendix: Research Methodology

For this study, we collected transaction data from 20 payment service providers and other companies that facilitate stablecoin payments, combined with data imputed from on-chain data and 11 other companies as secondary data sources, for a total of 31 stablecoin payment companies. With the exception of Binance Pay, which settles transactions directly between exchange account users, all data involve stablecoin transactions settled on-chain.

Generally, these payments are made on behalf of end users (consumers or businesses) and include card transactions, business-to-consumer (B2C) payments, business-to-business (B2B) payments, or peer-to-peer (P2P) payments. The exception is pre-funding, which refers to loans in the form of stablecoins to other stablecoin-based payment processors. Other forms of lending (even if the relevant transactions are settled in stablecoins) are not taken into account because these are not related to payments.

Some of the companies listed in the dataset are service providers to other companies; therefore, there may be some duplication in transaction volume, although we did our best to remove duplication when traffic data was available. For some providers, we chose to use only partial data, such as in Binance Pay, where we excluded internal transfers (we considered these more likely to be non-economic transactions). In general, we chose to use conservative estimates where possible.

In this study, we aim to limit data collection to transactions involving a specific type of payment that reflect real payment activity (excluding investment-related flows). Trillions of dollars in stablecoins are traded on-chain every year, but we are only interested in bottom-up analysis of companies that settle payments for known individuals and businesses.

As of the publication date, Artemis estimates that $26 trillion is settled on-chain in stablecoins per year (adjusted to remove known sources of noise), but a large portion of this is related to transactions (on exchanges and DeFi), verifying extractable value (MEV), and other non-payment type transactions. In our research, we were able to aggregate about 1% of all stablecoin settlement activity. While this number may seem small, based on our most recent month of data (February 2025), it equates to $72.3 billion in known stablecoin-based payment amounts.

The companies represented are a subset of all stablecoin-based payment service providers and are not comprehensive representation of the space, but we believe we have captured a significant portion of transaction volume. We expect to expand our coverage in future versions of this research.

Data shows monthly transactions by user type (B2B, B2C, P2P, etc.), blockchain, sending and receiving country (where applicable), and specific stablecoins used. In some cases, charts are based on a subset of companies (as not all participating companies provide an exhaustive breakdown). Data was collected in May 2025 and dates back to 2023. Naturally, some companies have only recently started operating, so the growth in some charts reflects both growth in payment volumes per company and the emergence of more companies in the space. Data is aggregated by transaction type and anonymized at the company level.

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