Standard Chartered: Stablecoin velocity doubles to six a month

Standard Chartered analysts reported that stablecoin velocity has roughly doubled over the past two years, with tokens now changing hands about six times per month on average. The bank attributes much of the increase to rising activity in Circle’s stablecoin across multiple blockchains and expanding use in payments, capital markets and early-stage AI-driven transactions.

Geoffrey Kendrick, global head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered, wrote that the recent rise in turnover was unexpected and alters a core assumption used in the firm’s long-term growth forecasts. Velocity, a measure of how often a token changes hands, climbed significantly after years of relative stability.

The bank measured turnover and noted that higher velocity can reduce the need for new stablecoin issuance even when total transaction volumes grow. Kendrick wrote, “Velocity has increased recently, contrary to our assumption that it would remain stable,” and cautioned that the pattern requires close monitoring. He added, “If velocity remains constant, rising transactions will create demand for more stablecoins. If it increases, that will not be the case, all else equal.”

Standard Chartered maintained its headline forecast that stablecoin supply will reach $2 trillion by 2028. The firm also kept its projection that stablecoin growth could generate roughly $1 trillion in additional demand for U.S. Treasury bills over the same period. The bank said the recent change in velocity does not yet require revising those longer-term numbers.

Analysts linked the faster turnover to new use cases beyond crypto trading and savings in emerging markets. Stablecoins are being used as substitutes for traditional payment rails, adopted in capital markets activity and used in automated, machine-driven payments tied to AI systems. Those applications tend to move tokens more frequently, contributing to higher overall velocity.

Standard Chartered reported that not all stablecoins or use cases have seen the same shift. Low-velocity applications such as savings use in emerging markets remain dominated by other stablecoins and have not experienced the same acceleration. The bank characterized the increased velocity as additional demand from payment and machine-driven use cases rather than a broad change across all stablecoin activity.

The firm said it will continue to monitor how deeper integration of stablecoins into payments, capital markets and automated transactions affects both turnover and supply needs as the market develops.