Standard Chartered delays $2T stablecoin forecast to 2030

Standard Chartered has pushed back its forecast for the stablecoin market to reach $2 trillion from 2028 to 2030, keeping the target unchanged after supply growth stalled near $309 billion. The bank expects transaction activity to continue rising even as the total value of stablecoins in circulation has remained broadly flat. Geoffrey Kendrick, Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets research, said supply had stayed between about $300 billion and $320 billion over the past year. He characterized the slowdown as cyclical, linking it to weaker activity in crypto markets. The forecast is the bank’s projection, not a confirmed outcome. Kendrick said monthly stablecoin transfer volume averaged just under $10 trillion in 2026, compared with $4 trillion in 2025, and reached $19 trillion in May. He also reported that average monthly velocity, a measure of how often each stablecoin dollar changes hands, rose to about 30 times this year from 15 times in 2025. The figures suggest more activity using existing tokens, rather than growth driven by a comparable increase in supply. Transfer totals do not necessarily represent payments or other economic activity.