Introduction

Most conversations about stablecoins start and end with US dollars. USDC. USDT. Dollar-backed instruments that have become the de facto settlement layer for crypto-native finance.

But a second wave is building, and it's denominated in euros, reais, Singapore dollars, and yen.

Visa collaborated with Dune, a leading blockchain data analytics platform, to produce Beyond Dollarization: The Rise of Local Currency Stablecoins,¹ a comprehensive analysis of non-USD stablecoin adoption across more than 30 blockchains. The findings reveal a market growing faster than most observers expected, with user distribution expanding even faster than supply.

The numbers tell a compelling story

The combined supply of local currency stablecoins grew roughly 90% year-over-year in the period through February 2026, reaching $1.2 billion, outpacing the 42% growth rate of USD-denominated stablecoins over the same period.¹ Adjusting for Tether’s discontinuation of its euro stablecoin EURT, the underlying supply expanded approximately 3x since January 2023.

But supply is only part of the story. Transfer volume increased 16x from 2023 to early 2026, far outpacing supply growth. This signals something important: these assets aren't just being issued and held. They're being actively used, for payments, settlement, treasury management, and increasingly, yield.

User adoption has expanded dramatically. Unique holder addresses grew from roughly 40,000 in January 2023 to over 1.2 million by February 2026, a 30x increase. Monthly active senders rose from approximately 6,000 to 135,000 over the same period, evidence that adoption is moving toward sustained, repeat usage rather than one-time experimentation.

Where it’s happening and why

Not all local currencies are growing equally. Euro-denominated stablecoins now represent more than 80% of the $1.2 billion tracked market cap and approximately 85% of total transfer volume, led by Circle's EURC, which processes roughly $10–$20 billion in monthly volume.

The EU’s MiCA regulatory framework, which came into effect in 2024, established a comprehensive regulatory structure for euro-denominated digital assets. Notably, the data shows a clear inflection in euro stablecoin activity beginning in the post-MiCA period, though drawing causal conclusions requires further analysis.

This pattern of regulation first, growth second repeats across other currencies. The three most notable examples:

• Brazil (BRL). Driven by Central Bank resolutions and PIX integration, BRLA transfer volumes grew 8x year-over-year, reaching over $400M per month by early 2026. BRLA operates as settlement infrastructure connecting Brazil's instant payment system to global rails, often invisible to the end user.
• Japan (JPY). The October 2025 launch of JPYC, the first yen stablecoin regulated by Japan's Financial Services Agency, drove a rapid inflection. Monthly senders grew from a few hundred to 10,000 shortly after launch, and yen stablecoins now represent approximately 6.6% of unique holder share.
• Singapore (SGD). XSGD, issued by StraitsX and recognized by MAS as substantively compliant with Singapore's stablecoin framework, powers real-time cross-border settlement across Southeast Asia, enabling tourists to pay with local wallets while merchants receive instant SGD settlement, with the stablecoin infrastructure working in the background.

What these assets are actually being used for

A critical insight from the data: outside of euro stablecoins, approximately 80% of non-USD stablecoin activity consists of straightforward transfers consistent with payments, payroll, and treasury settlement, not complex DeFi strategies. Regular weekend slowdowns in transfer volume reinforce this interpretation. These are business tools first.

The fastest-growing use case is lending. The share of non-USD stablecoin supply deployed in lending protocols grew from 1.4% to 7.5% over the analysis period, with total value rising from $9M to $86M, the sharpest growth rate of any category in the report. Yield generation, collateral use, and liquidity management are becoming meaningful demand drivers.

Onchain FX remains an emerging opportunity. Only about 2% of supply currently sits in DEX (Decentralized Exchange) liquidity pools, limiting the depth available for large institutional currency conversions. As liquidity matures, real-time atomic swaps, 24/7 treasury rebalancing, and always-on FX operations become increasingly viable for enterprise use cases.

What this report means for financial institutions

For banks, fintechs, and enterprises exploring stablecoin infrastructure, the report's central conclusion is straightforward: stablecoins are transitioning from niche instruments to regulated settlement infrastructure. Institutions that engage early, e.g., by establishing partnerships, compliance frameworks, liquidity positions, etc., will be best positioned as global value flows expand beyond dollar-denominated rails.

To support this shift, Visa provides a trusted, infrastructure-led bridge between traditional finance and onchain ecosystems. Visa aims to deliver a comprehensive suite of solutions—including settlement capabilities, linked card programs, secure cross-border money movement, and dedicated advisory services—that empower financial institutions to define and build their stablecoin strategies. Combined with industry-leading infrastructure and global payments network, Visa solutions enable partners to integrate stablecoins directly into their existing systems.

Visa also operates more than 130 programs—arrangements between Visa and card issuers or program managers that enable stablecoin-funded spending on the Visa network—across more than 50 countries, and expects that number to roughly double in 2026.² Financial institutions looking to offer stablecoin on- and off-ramp capabilities can do so at scale by leveraging Visa global network, which spans more than 14,500 financial institution clients and 175+ million merchant acceptance points worldwide.

This transition of stablecoins from niche instruments to mainstream settlement infrastructure is not speculative; it is grounded in the data and visible in rising transfer volumes, expanding user participation, and growing regulatory clarity across major jurisdictions.

Read the full report

A critical insight from the data: outside of euro stablecoins, approximately 80% of non-USD stablecoin activity consists of straightforward transfers consistent with payments, payroll, and treasury settlement, not complex DeFi strategies. Regular weekend slowdowns in transfer volume reinforce this interpretation. These are business tools first.

The fastest-growing use case is lending. The share of non-USD stablecoin supply deployed in lending protocols grew from 1.4% to 7.5% over the analysis period, with total value rising from $9M to $86M, the sharpest growth rate of any category in the report. Yield generation, collateral use, and liquidity management are becoming meaningful demand drivers.

Onchain FX remains an emerging opportunity. Only about 2% of supply currently sits in DEX (Decentralized Exchange) liquidity pools, limiting the depth available for large institutional currency conversions. As liquidity matures, real-time atomic swaps, 24/7 treasury rebalancing, and always-on FX operations become increasingly viable for enterprise use cases.

Beyond Dollarization: The Rise of Local Currency Stablecoins is available for download now. It includes in-depth case studies on EURC (Europe), BRLA (Brazil & LatAm), and XSGD (Southeast Asia), along with full onchain data methodology and analysis covering chain distribution, regulatory tailwinds, and future opportunities across cross-border corridors, FX automation, and merchant settlement.