Less Than 10% of Stablecoin Transaction Volume Coming from Real Users: Report

As an analyst with extensive experience in the cryptocurrency market, I find the recent report by Visa and Allium Labs on stablecoin transaction volumes quite intriguing. According to Bloomberg, more than 90% of stablecoin transaction volumes aren’t coming from genuine users. Out of about $2.2 trillion in total transactions in April, only $149 billion originated from “organic payments activity.”

Approximately 90% of transactions involving stablecoins are not initiated by actual people or organic activities, based on recent discoveries by Visa and data provider Allium Labs, as revealed in a Bloomberg report.

Approximately $149 billion out of a total transaction volume of around $2.2 trillion in April were derived from authentic payments carried out by individuals, according to the report. The study filtered out transactions executed by bots and massive traders to concentrate on those originating from human interactions.

Approximately $150 billion worth of stablecoins are in circulation at present. Among them, Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) hold significant market influence with a 75% and 22% share, respectively, according to brokerage firm Bernstein.

As a financial analyst, I would describe stablecoins as digital currencies that maintain a constant value by being linked to traditional assets such as the US dollar. The recent announcements from companies like PayPal about issuing their own stablecoins have brought these assets into the limelight. Additionally, regulatory legislation concerning stablecoins is considered the most probable piece of legislation to pass through the U.S. Congress.

Last month, Visa’s Head of Crypto, Cuy Sheffield, mentioned in a note that “blockchains are multifunctional platforms where stablecoins can be applied to various applications, and transactions on these networks can be initiated not only manually by users but also automatically through bots. However, it is important to note that there is significant background noise within this data.”

As an analyst, I’ve uncovered some intriguing findings in my research. Although there was a noticeable difference between the reported total transfer volume and the adjusted transfer volume attributed to bots, the number of monthly active stablecoin users demonstrated consistent growth. Specifically, I identified approximately 27.5 million users engaging with stablecoins across all blockchain networks on a monthly basis.