What does it mean for stablecoins to surpass Visa? The transfer of financial power behind a $33 trillion settlement volume

Stablecoins at their inception were simply defined as a bridge for exchanging fiat currency and digital assets in the crypto world, often called "transaction fuel." However, when the settlement volume in that year surpassed $33 trillion and overtook Visa, this narrative fundamentally changed. With a market cap close to $190 billion for USDT and $76.9 billion for USDC, they are driving a larger and irreversible process: stablecoins are shifting from internal tools within the crypto industry to becoming the core infrastructure of the next-generation financial system.



## Why are stablecoins transforming from transaction fuel into financial infrastructure?

The core driver is the upgrade of their underlying logic. When serving as "fuel," stablecoins' value only supported on-chain transactions, DeFi staking, or leverage liquidations. As "infrastructure," they now provide an open, programmable, near real-time value transfer layer in the digital age. This is akin to upgrading from specialized gasoline for specific machines to a high-speed highway and railway network covering the entire economy. Their annual settlement volume of over $33 trillion is not an isolated phenomenon but direct evidence of a global capital flow efficiency revolution against traditional clearing systems like SWIFT and ACH. Stablecoins are no longer just objects of holding and trading but are now the foundational soil for payments, credit, trade finance, and even RWA (real-world assets) liquidity.

## How to understand the structural difference behind the $33 trillion annual settlement volume surpassing Visa?

A clear comparison scope is needed. Visa's total payment volume around 2025 is about $15 trillion (typical year), but fundamentally, it is transaction processing volume representing consumer authorization amounts, with actual clearing happening between banks. Stablecoins' $33 trillion is more about on-chain settlement value, including transactions, transfers, DeFi clearing, cross-border payments, and institutional settlements across all scenarios. This difference reveals the core advantage: stablecoins combine "transaction authorization" and "final settlement," compressing the time from T+1 to T+3 down to seconds, and reducing costs by several orders of magnitude. Therefore, surpassing Visa is not just a numbers game but proof that a more efficient clearing paradigm capable of handling global commercial traffic has emerged.

## What market path and positioning do the market caps of nearly $190 billion for USDT and $76.9 billion for USDC indicate?

In a two-stronghold landscape, the differences are increasingly prominent. According to Gate data, as of May 19, 2026, USDT quotes at $1.0002 USD, USDC at $1.0000 USD. USDT's market cap of about $189.8 billion, by prioritizing emerging markets, deepening cross-border trade, and OTC liquidity, has become the de facto global digital dollar substitute. USDC's approximately $76.9 billion focuses more on compliance frameworks, institutional DeFi, and on-chain financial applications. The former reflects broad coverage, while the latter signifies deep integration. This differentiation is not competition but rather the "main road" and "overpass" of stablecoin infrastructure, each supporting different risk preferences and liquidity scenarios.

## How does the migration of use cases from transactions to payments trigger a qualitative change in infrastructure attributes?

In early stages, over 90% of on-chain activity was directly related to crypto trading. Currently, the incremental driving force has clearly shifted to non-trading scenarios: cross-border corporate payroll, B2B trade settlement, remittance channels, and even decentralized savings and lending. For example, the annualized 4% to 8% yield from on-chain US debt tokenization is attracting traditional funds into permissionless yield markets via stablecoins. Meanwhile, the rise of PayFi (payment finance) concepts introduces real-world payment scenarios like accounts receivable and invoice discounting onto the chain. When stablecoins are no longer just serving "buy and sell" but start handling restaurant settlements, supply chain financing, or creator tips, they complete their identity transformation from financial tools to financial infrastructure.

## After establishing infrastructure status, what core risks and regulatory challenges do stablecoins face?

The primary risk is transparency and composition of reserve assets. Although USDT and USDC regularly publish reports, in extreme liquidity crises, whether they can meet on-chain redemptions and traditional market runs simultaneously remains untested under full stress. Second is regulatory fragmentation. The EU's MiCA has taken effect, while the US stablecoin legislation is still in negotiation; different jurisdictions impose vastly different capital requirements and licensing regimes for "payment stablecoins," which could fragment liquidity. Lastly, technical risks: smart contract vulnerabilities, cross-chain bridge attacks, or underlying blockchain outages could directly undermine trust. To truly carry financial-grade traffic, stablecoins must upgrade in transparency, compliance layering, and risk resistance architectures scaled to their size.

## What directions will the stablecoin infrastructure evolve toward in the next three years?

Three foreseeable trends: First, dual-layer differentiation. Retail stablecoins (used for payments) and wholesale stablecoins (used for interbank clearing) will diverge with different compliance and capital standards. Second, yield integration. Zero-yield base stablecoins will face challenges from "endogenously yielding stablecoins," where users expect to hold assets that generate returns linked to US debt. Third, chain neutrality. Stablecoins will no longer be tied to a single blockchain but serve as cross-chain asset standards, freely flowing across multiple high-performance L1/L2s. The ultimate form will be a transparent, efficient, 24/7 operating digital dollar clearing network, forming a symbiotic relationship rather than a replacement with traditional finance.

## Summary

With an annual on-chain settlement volume of $33 trillion, stablecoins have leapfrogged from tool-like assets to infrastructure, achieving a structural surpassing of traditional clearing systems like Visa in efficiency. The combined market cap of nearly $270 billion for USDT and USDC is empirical evidence of this logic, not its endpoint. Future development will shift from scale expansion to quality deepening: addressing transparency challenges, adapting to regulatory fragmentation, and integrating endogenous yield mechanisms. For industry participants, understanding stablecoins is no longer just about understanding an asset class but about grasping the underlying rules of how value is defined, stored, and transferred in the digital age.

## FAQ

1. Has the $33 trillion annual settlement volume truly surpassed Visa?
In pure absolute numbers, the on-chain settlement value of stablecoins (including transactions, transfers, DeFi, etc.) has exceeded Visa's annual payment processing volume. But this is not a direct apples-to-apples comparison: Visa represents consumer authorization flow, while stablecoins represent final on-chain settlement value. A more accurate understanding is that stablecoins demonstrate a more efficient fund settlement path that is maturing beyond traditional card clearing networks.

2. What does the continuous growth of stablecoin market cap mean for ordinary users?
It means the cost of cross-border remittances, payments, and value storage will drop significantly, with speeds from days to seconds. Meanwhile, stablecoins are becoming an entry point to on-chain yields (like US debt tokenization), allowing ordinary users to earn near risk-free USD returns without traditional brokers—an important step toward financial inclusion.

3. What are the main risks of currently investing in or holding stablecoins?
Key risks include: whether the issuing institutions' reserves are truly sufficient and liquid; regulatory changes that could restrict certain stablecoins in specific regions; and technical vulnerabilities in smart contracts or cross-chain bridges. Users should prioritize stablecoins with high transparency, good compliance records, and ample liquidity (such as USDT, USDC), and diversify holdings across trusted platforms (like Gate).

4. Will stablecoins completely replace traditional payment systems (like SWIFT)?
In the short term, no—they will form a competitive and complementary relationship. Stablecoins excel in speed, cost, and programmability, but traditional systems are more mature in anti-money laundering frameworks, consumer protection, and dispute resolution. The future trend is gradual integration, such as traditional banks issuing their own stablecoins or SWIFT integrating blockchain clearing layers.

5. Which is more worth using, USDT or USDC?
It depends on the scenario. If you frequently engage in emerging market transactions, remittances, or OTC exchanges, USDT's liquidity and depth are superior. If you are deeply involved in on-chain DeFi, institutional lending, or require higher compliance, USDC's transparent framework offers advantages. Both are well-supported on major platforms like Gate with ample trading pairs and liquidity.