Over the past eighteen months, the volume of stablecoin transactions has climbed sixfold, driving a major shift in global money transfers. According to recent data from payment infrastructure firm BVNK, monthly payments conducted via stablecoins surpassed $30 billion at the start of 2026. The principal factor behind this rapid growth is a dramatic acceleration in business-to-business (B2B) payments, which have outpaced all other categories.
B2B Payments Fuel Explosive Growth
Drawing on a joint report by Artemis and McKinsey, BVNK notes that at the beginning of 2024, monthly stablecoin settlements were recorded at $5 billion. Just two years later, monthly volumes smashed the $30 billion mark, lifting annual figures above $390 billion. The report highlights that B2B payments now dominate total stablecoin transaction volumes, leaving peer-to-peer transfers, cross-border remittances, card payments, and advance financing as much smaller contributors. Especially since mid-2024, the momentum behind B2B stablecoin payments has become increasingly pronounced.
Why Corporates Favor Stablecoins
For corporate finance and treasury teams, stablecoins deliver notable operational advantages. Traditional cross-border banking processes, such as transfers on the SWIFT network, generally take one to five business days to complete. Additional fees imposed by intermediary correspondent banks and the complexity of multi-currency settlements can add both cost and delay. In contrast, stablecoin payments are typically processed in seconds, without intermediaries, and are available 24/7—even on weekends and public holidays.
Companies paying international suppliers benefit from eliminating both foreign exchange conversion steps and the complications of correspondent banking relationships. Artemis and McKinsey’s findings indicate a growing number of businesses are recognizing these efficiencies and increasingly adopting stablecoins for their payment operations.
Stablecoins Expand Beyond Payments
While early expectations centered on stablecoin use for individual transfers and cross-border remittances, BVNK observes that true growth has emerged in the B2B arena. At the same time, card-based stablecoin payments are also rising, with Visa reporting an increase in its annual settlement volume from $1 billion to $3 billion. However, such card-linked payments remain a smaller part of the overall picture compared to B2B transactions.
Beyond payments, the report points to emerging stablecoin applications. These include trading tokenized assets, providing a safe store of value in countries facing high inflation, and supporting hardware financing for artificial intelligence (such as funding GPU purchases). Many of these use cases did not even appear in statistics two years ago, but they now contribute supplementary volumes outside of traditional payment categories.
New Infrastructure and the Road Ahead
The Artemis and McKinsey report shared by BVNK suggests the next wave of growth will come from new market entrants rather than just the expansion of incumbents. Fintech firms, banks, and even some non-financial corporations are expected to launch their own stablecoin initiatives. As the overall infrastructure matures and regulatory frameworks become clearer, the number of available stablecoins may further increase. This trend is likely to fuel greater competition on fees and foster liquidity across a wider range of currencies.
Still, a central question remains: Can the existing ecosystem scale securely to meet growing transaction volumes? Prior incidents involving financial products linked to fast-growing cryptocurrencies have already underscored the importance of managing institutional risks. Surpassing the $30 billion monthly volume stands as a significant threshold, yet whether infrastructure, regulation, and oversight keep pace is a topic of ongoing debate.
