Stablecoin transfers surge as crypto’s cash reserves shrink

Adjusted stablecoin transaction volume reached $1.79 trillion in June, a 63% increase from May, while the total pool of stablecoins in circulation fell by $7.7 billion over the same four-week period. The monthly supply decline is the largest dollar drop since May 2022.

The adjusted volume figure, produced by Visa Onchain Analytics with partners including Allium, Artemis and Castle Island Ventures, filters out high‑frequency bots, exchange treasury rebalancing and repetitive smart‑contract calls to estimate economically meaningful on‑chain transfers. The same adjusted measure put first‑half 2026 volume at $8.82 trillion, above the $5.8 trillion recorded for all of 2024.

Stablecoin supply and transaction volume moved in opposite directions in the second quarter. CEX.IO and other data providers placed total stablecoin supply near $312 billion at the end of Q2, down from a record $315 billion in Q1 and marking the first quarterly contraction since Q3 2023. June’s adjusted volume is roughly 5.7 times the reported outstanding stablecoin base; that comparison pairs a monthly flow with a quarter‑end stock.

USDC accounted for about $1.21 trillion of June’s adjusted transfers, or roughly 67% of the total, while USDT handled about $576 billion, or 32%. On a supply basis, USDT remained larger, with about $184 billion circulating versus USDC’s approximately $73 billion. Transaction counts fell sharply in Q2, dropping by about 530 million to 4.48 billion, indicating fewer transfers carried larger values from a smaller float.

Product types diverged over the quarter. Yield‑bearing stablecoins fell roughly 15%, shedding over $3.5 billion as some holders unwound yield positions; Ethena’s sUSDe lost about half its market value and Sky’s sUSDS declined around 16%. Treasury‑backed products gained: BlackRock’s BUIDL rose about 2%, Circle’s USYC climbed nearly 16%, and Ondo’s USDY expanded more than 66%.

Stablecoin distribution across networks shifted in Q2. Ethereum layer‑2s lost about 24% of their stablecoin base, a decline of roughly $4.34 billion, with Arbitrum falling about 45% as liquidity moved to other chains. HyperEVM’s stablecoin supply grew about 300% to $5.6 billion, and Tron added approximately $3.4 billion. The Ethereum mainnet recorded the largest absolute decline, losing more than $10 billion in stablecoin holdings.

Payment and treasury firms continued to integrate tokenized dollars into traditional rails. Visa’s settlement pilot reached a $7 billion annualized run rate in April across nine networks. Stripe offers USDC‑denominated balances to businesses in 101 countries. Payments firm Nuvei acquired Payoneer for $2.75 billion and has been folding token settlement into regulated commerce infrastructure.

Regulatory activity included final approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on July 10 for Circle to establish a federally chartered national trust, First National Digital Currency Bank, with future capabilities for USDC reserve management; related implementing rules from federal agencies remain pending.

Institutional data provider Talos identified three concurrent drags on demand and liquidity in Q2: a decline in stablecoin supply, outflows from US spot Bitcoin ETFs and slower corporate treasury buying. US spot Bitcoin ETFs reported more than $4 billion in outflows in June. Bitcoin fell about 14% in Q2, trading below $60,000 at one point before recovering to around $63,000.

Network‑level adjusted volume in June showed Coinbase’s Base processed about $565 billion, Ethereum about $562 billion and Tron roughly $320 billion. The market recorded higher on‑chain turnover alongside a smaller pool of dollar‑pegged tokens, while payment and settlement activity continued to expand.