Stablecoins move trillions as crypto shifts to payments layer

Andreessen Horowitz on Wednesday released its State of Crypto 2025 report, saying stablecoins moved roughly $46 trillion on public blockchains over the past 12 months and that the digital tokens have become a central element of global finance. The venture firm argues that a combination of faster blockchain infrastructure, clearer regulation and rising institutional adoption has shifted crypto from a speculative niche toward a payments and settlement layer used by banks, card networks and fintech firms worldwide.

The $46 trillion figure is the report's unadjusted total, reflecting raw onchain flows. After filtering for internal hops and likely non-economic activity, Andreessen Horowitz reports an adjusted volume of about $9 trillion over the same period, an 87 percent increase from the prior year. The firm said that adjusted stablecoin activity now rivals major payment rails on certain metrics. "Stablecoins have become the fastest, cheapest, and most global way to send a dollar," the report said, noting transfers often settle in under a second and can cost less than a cent.

Institutional participation is expanding. Major asset managers and banks including BlackRock, JPMorgan and...