According to new data published by Visa, the adjusted stablecoin transaction volume soared to $1.79 trillion in June. This marks a staggering 63 percent increase from May’s $1.1 trillion, not only surpassing the previous peak of $1.78 trillion in February but also representing a year-on-year surge of 125 percent. The numbers signal a dramatic growth in stablecoin activity across the sector.
A new all-time high in June
The data indicates that stablecoin adoption is expanding well beyond simple crypto trading. Use cases are widening to include payments, decentralized finance applications, and cross-border money transfers. Even as the broader crypto market shows signs of stagnation, the sustained increase in stablecoin transaction volume points to a new central role for these assets in the digital asset ecosystem.
Grayscale’s Head of Research, Zach Pandl, remarked that June 2026 became another record-setting month for stablecoin transaction volumes, surpassing even February’s highs.
Grayscale, a leading digital asset investment firm, frequently stands out with its in-depth institutional analysis. Its research division regularly provides evaluations on capital flows in crypto markets and updates on the evolving infrastructure landscape.
USDC dominates June transaction volume
Despite Tether’s USDT retaining its crown as the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, June’s transaction volume spotlighted Circle’s USDC. Visa’s data illustrates that USDC accounted for $1.21 trillion in transactions — around 67 percent of the total. By contrast, USDT saw $576 billion in volume, securing about 32 percent market share. PayPal’s PYUSD rounded out the top three with $2.42 billion in transactions.
These figures reveal a clear divergence between market capitalization and real-world usage. Which stablecoins are chosen for payments and on-chain liquidity flows provides fresh insight into evolving user preferences and trends within the broader crypto economy.
Base and Ethereum neck and neck for network activity
In June, most stablecoin operations took place on Coinbase’s Ethereum layer 2 network Base, which processed $565 billion — about 31.5 percent of the total volume. Ethereum’s mainnet closely followed at $562 billion, while Tron ranked third with $320 billion, accounting for roughly 18 percent of all transactions measured.
Mini glossary: A layer 2 network is a scaling solution built atop the main blockchain that aims to process transactions faster or more cost-effectively. Base is one such network operating on Ethereum.
Visa, working with Artemis, Allium Labs, and Castle Island Ventures, has refined its calculation methods to filter out high-frequency bot trades, exchange treasury rebalancing, and repetitive smart contract activity. The company emphasizes that this approach is designed to more accurately reflect genuine, organic stablecoin activity.
New launches and institutional interest intensifying
As competition in the stablecoin market heats up, Open Standard announced the launch of Open USD (OUSD) on Tuesday. The project has reportedly secured backing from more than 140 organizations spanning payments, banking, technology, and crypto — including heavyweights Visa and Mastercard.
Nick Ruck, head of LVRG Research, commented that the record-breaking volume underscores how stablecoins are establishing themselves as foundational infrastructure for value transfer, liquidity provisioning, and decentralized finance — independent from price volatility.
