Stablecoins surpass Visa, Ethereum remains dominant

For the first time since the cryptomarket originated, there are more transactions worldwide with stablecoins than with Visa.

For the first time since the creation of the crypto market, there have been more global transactions with stablecoins than with Visa. This is shown by a recent report from asset manager Bitwise. In 2024, the total transaction volume of stablecoins was just above that of the traditional payment network Visa, a historic tipping point for the sector.

According to Bitwise, the market share of stablecoins increased by as much as 30 percent over the past year. The vast majority of those transactions, up to 95 percent, took place on Ethereum. After that, fast-growing, speed-optimized blockchains like Solana are rapidly capturing more market share.

The report also points to a fundamental shift within the crypto world: away from speculation, toward practical applications with real economic value. For example, the market for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) saw explosive growth of 37 percent compared to the previous quarter. This set a new record in this segment, which tokenizes physical assets such as real estate or bonds on the blockchain.

Also the demand for decentralized finance services (DeFi) is on the rise again. DeFi projects attracted in Q1 2024 the second-highest amount of investment ever, only surpassed by Q1 2022. Two of the ten largest VC investments went to DeFi, which in total accounted for 18 percent of the total raised capital – a share as large as the much-discussed infrastructure projects.

Bitwise names it the "best worst quarter" in the history of the sector, a period when prices fell but the fundamentals grew stronger than ever.