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Stablecoins Become the New Favorite for Cross-Border Payments

In March 2026, the monthly trading volume of stablecoins exceeded $7.5 trillion, for the first time surpassing the US ACH system and becoming the new king of cross-border payments. Among them, USDC, with a trading volume of $2.2 trillion, overtook USDT. Institutional funds are accelerating their entry, and settlement efficiency has been compressed from several days to just tens of seconds. With the implementation of the GENIUS Act, stablecoins are reshaping the global payments landscape, and traditional finance is facing a profound reshuffle.

👉A historic moment: Why are stablecoins overtaking ACH?

Galaxy Research predicted as early as the end of 2025 that stablecoins might surpass the ACH system around 2026. But nobody expected it to happen that soon—by March. Why so fast? The core driving force is not ordinary users, but institutional and wholesale fund flows. The data clearly reveals this structural shift: the average transaction value per stablecoin trade is between $25,000 and $50,000—roughly 200 to 500 times the Visa average per-transaction trade!

This shows that institutional funds are choosing sides.

Besides that, we are also seeing changes inside the stablecoin market. A report from Mizuho Bank states that from early 2026 to now, the trading volume of USDC issued by Circle has reached approximately $2.2 trillion. And what about long-time dominant player Tether’s USDT? It is only $1.3 trillion. This is the first time since 2019 that USDC has overtaken USDT.

As of the first quarter of 2026, the total stablecoin supply reached a record $315 billion, up $8 billion from the same period last year. More importantly, it accounts for 75% of the total crypto market’s trading volume.

👉Payment efficiency crushes: from days to tens of seconds

Stablecoins have taken the throne of cross-border payments. With $7.5 trillion crushing ACH, why can stablecoins quickly eat into the traditional payments market?

One word: speed.

Traditional cross-border payments need multiple layers of intermediaries and correspondent banks, and settlement takes 1 to 3 business days. Stablecoins, on the other hand—relying on blockchain technology—get it done in just tens of seconds.

This is not a theoretical advantage. Look at Circle’s real-world case: in early 2026, Circle completed cross-ledger settlement of $68 million between 8 of its entities in just 30 minutes. Using the same process via traditional bank wire transfer takes 1 to 3 days. So in its 2025 payments industry report, McKinsey put it plainly: if traditional finance does not roll out stablecoins, it may lose its dominance in global payments.

Now, even traditional giants like Visa are starting to act. Visa has announced support for four stablecoins and plans to run settlement services across four different blockchain networks.

👉Regulatory turning point: The GENIUS Act opens the door

In our view, with stablecoins crushing ACH at $7.5 trillion, if the efficiency advantage is the “spear,” then the clarity of the regulatory environment is its “shield.”

In early 2026, the passage of the US GENIUS Act became a key catalyst. Frank Chapparo, head of GSR content, commented that banks or fintech companies that ignore the explosive growth in this area may “struggle to survive.”

Currently, the total market capitalization of stablecoins is about $267 billion, but Standard Chartered Bank analysts expect that by 2028, the global total stablecoin market cap could climb to $2 trillion—an increase of more than 530% from now.