Stablecoins have seen remarkable growthsince 2020. This surge can be attributed to several factors, such as the rising adoption of stablecoins, the creation of new stablecoins and increasing demand for decentralised finance (DeFi) applications. To fully understand the adoption of stablecoins, it is essential to examine and connect various metrics. This section will introduce some indicators that you can use to assess the adoption of stablecoins.

Aggregate stablecoin supply

The aggregate stablecoin supply in USD provides a metric to assess the overall size of the stablecoin market and track its growth over time. The chart below also provides information on stablecoin supply of individual stablecoins, both in USD and the native units of a stablecoin. As all the considered stablecoins are pegged to USD, changes in their USD value indicate either a slip of the peg or a change in the volume of stablecoins. Use the navigation buttons and interact with the stablecoin circles to track the evolution of these metrics over time and get further details.

Notes: 1. The chart covers the major ten stablecoins in terms of stablecoin supply in USD as of 1 December 2023. These stablecoins jointly covered approximately 98% of the market that included over 100 stablecoins identified by the research team. 2. ‘Smaller stablecoins’ refers to stablecoins that are not included in the top three stablecoins in terms of stablecoin supply in USD. 3. FRAX stablecoin supply in USD (market cap) data is subject to high volatility. It is based on the stablecoin price feed on centralised exchanges that may have low liquidity as most of the trading of this stablecoin occurs on decentralised exchanges. Future iterations of the dashboard may provide an improved data feed for FRAX. 4. FRAX stablecoin data is available from 25 May 2022 (while the stablecoin was launched in December 2020). Data for DAI, USDD, BUSD, FDUSD and PYUSD is not provided for the first one to three months since their launch. 5. Data for BUSD is available till December 2023 when it was delisted from major centralised exchanges (see Binance announcement for details).

Stablecoin supply breakdown

The share of a particular stablecoin supply refers to the percentage that this stablecoin represents in the aggregate stablecoin supply. This metric offers insights into the relative adoption of different stablecoins within the overall stablecoin market. It is important to consider the specific use cases and niches of each stablecoin when evaluating their adoption rates, rather than solely relying on its share of the total stablecoin supply metric. For instance, a stablecoin may have a relatively small share of the total stablecoin supply while being widely used in a particular market niche.

Note: The percentages displayed in the share of supply of specific stablecoins are based on the total market capitalisation of all stablecoins included in this version of the dashboard. These percentages may vary if you consider the total market capitalisation of all stablecoins available in the broader market. Please also consider the limitations mentioned for the chart above.

While an increasing stablecoin supply can indicate increased adoption, it is not always a conclusive indicator as other factors may also contribute to an increase in market supply without a corresponding increase in use. For example, an issuing entity could mint new stablecoins but not release them into general circulation. Therefore, it is important to examine additional metrics such as stablecoin value of transfers, number of transfers and number of users, and also analyse use cases and other data to gain a more accurate understanding of a stablecoin’s actual adoption level.

The transfer volume metric refers to the total USD value of transfers made with a stablecoin during a specific period. The transfer number refers to the total count of transfers. Increased transfer volume and higher transfer numbers may indicate more frequent or significant usage of the stablecoin by a larger user base, and serve as a positive indicator of adoption.

Note: The data presented in this chart covers on-chain transfers involving major stablecoins on the Ethereum network representing approximately 50% of the aggregate stablecoin supply in USD as of 1 December 2023. The charts also provide data for the USDT on-chain transfers on the Tron network, additionally covering over 30% of the aggregate market cap. Future iterations of the dashboard may include off-chain data and extend the list of considered stablecoins.

Stablecoin velocity is a measure of the frequency at which a unit of a stablecoin is exchanged within a given time. The velocity metric bridges some of the previous adoption indicators as it is calculated by dividing the stablecoin transfer volume by its supply (see Methodology for details). Please use the stablecoin selector to display and compare the velocity of several stablecoins. The bitcoin price moving average and shaded areas on the chart provide additional context reflecting major changes in the overall cryptoasset market and specific stablecoin environments.

Notes: 1. Velocity charts may appear differently depending on the methodology used for calculating the metric. Please refer to the Methodology section for more details. 2. A period of prolonged transfer value decrease signifies a period of four or more consecutive weeks (7-day periods) with a lower value of transfers than the previous week.

Please be aware that the velocity patterns of a stablecoin may depend on its use cases. Therefore, it is essential to consider the specific characteristics of each stablecoin and the market factors influencing its adoption. The next iterations of the dashboard will provide an in-depth analysis of stablecoin use cases and other stablecoin features.