Stablecoins are not just a tool for speculative crypto trading anymore, according to the first survey of actual users across five countries.
In “Stablecoins: The Emerging Market Story,” a survey involving venture capitalist firm Castle Island Ventures, asset manager Brevan Howard, data firm Artemis, and Visa Crypto, among others, the authors found that of the $2.6 trillion worth of value settled in stablecoins so far this year, much had a real-world application.
“We felt there was a lack of data around how folks are actually using stablecoins around the world, especially in emerging markets, so we commissioned a survey of 2500 users in Brazil, Nigeria, Turkey, Indonesia, and India,” Castle Island’s Nic Carter told The Block.
“This is the first survey of its kind, and I think it’s very revealing regarding real-world usage of stablecoins (rather than just stables for crypto speculation),” he continued.
The survey was conducted between May 29, 2024, and June 13, 2024, via YouGov. It involved 500 adults who self-reported using cryptocurrencies in each of the emerging market countries: Brazil, Nigeria, Turkey, Indonesia and India.
With nearly $170 billion worth of stablecoins in current circulation, the authors noted that these often dollar-denominated tokens are “unambiguously the killer app” of crypto.
By applying a methodology to remove noise from MEV trading, arbitrage and lending transactions, and other apparent inorganic use cases like intra-exchange transfers, the surveyors put forward a conservative estimate that $3.7 trillion worth of value was settled using stablecoins in 2023.
Stablecoin usage appears to be growing. In the first half of 2024, around $2.62 trillion was settled using stablecoins, putting the sector at an annualized pace of $5.28 trillion.
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Notably, stablecoin volumes grew “steadily” throughout the down market cycle, an “indication that stablecoins have reached a new set of users that are not solely interested in using them for exchange settlement,” according to published findings.
Further, 57% of users reported an increase in stablecoin usage over the past year and 72% believe this trend will continue in the future.
According to the survey, if users weren’t using stablecoins to facilitate cryptocurrency trades, the most popular use cases included currency conversion, paying for goods, remittances, and a salary.
There are regional differences in usage. For instance, in Turkey, the number one non-trading use case was earning yield using stablecoins, while in Nigeria, the self-reported top objective was saving money in U.S. dollars.
Further, additional reporting from Pintu, one of the largest crypto platforms in Indonesia, found that users tapped stablecoins for B2B payments and arbitrage. “Stablecoins are more accessible to many Indonesian users than USD banking. The registration requirements for local crypto exchanges are simpler than those required to create a USD-based bank account, so users have lower barriers to entry,” the company wrote.
Meanwhile, users of Yellowcard, the largest crypto on-ramp in Africa, reported using stablecoins in foreign exchange, considering that often there are capital restraints that limit international transactions. “As a result, people and businesses have turned to stablecoins to keep their payments flowing, imports coming in, business alive, and family supported,” the company added.
While Tether’s USDT
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, the largest stablecoin accounting for $118 billion of the total $170 billion stablecoins in circulation, was the most commonly used dollar-backed token, Ethereum, rather than Tron, was found to be the most tapped blockchain for exchanging value.
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