Stablecoin Transfers Reach Record $1.79T in June

Stablecoin usage hit a new milestone in June, with adjusted stablecoin transaction volume reaching $1.79 trillion, according to payments analytics from Visa. The figure represents a sharp step up from May’s $1.1 trillion and breaks the prior record of $1.78 trillion set in February.

The jump, Visa says, comes from its Allium-powered dashboard tracking “adjusted” on-chain activity—designed to better reflect organic value transfer rather than short-term technical noise. For market participants, the broader implication is straightforward: even when crypto markets struggle, stablecoin rails can keep growing as on-chain payments, DeFi liquidity, and cross-border settlement continue to mature.

Key takeaways

• $1.79 trillion in adjusted stablecoin transaction volume was recorded in June, up 63% from May’s $1.1 trillion.
• USDC led by volume: Circle’s USDC accounted for roughly 67% of transactions (about $1.21 trillion), despite Tether’s USDt still being the largest stablecoin by market cap.
• Base and Ethereum dominated networks, together responsible for roughly $1.13 trillion of June stablecoin activity, with Tron third at about $320 billion.
• Visa’s methodology adjustment filters out high-frequency bots and certain repeated contract patterns to approximate more meaningful stablecoin usage.

June’s record and why Visa’s “adjusted” lens matters

Visa reported that June 2026 delivered another record month for stablecoin transaction volume, overtaking the previous high from February. The update comes through Visa’s Allium-powered stablecoin analytics dashboard, which tracks adjusted figures—intended to exclude metrics that can inflate results without representing genuine economic activity.

Visa collaborated with partners including Artemis, Allium Labs, and Castle Island Ventures to build the adjusted transaction methodology. Visa said the approach filters out “distracting metrics” such as high-frequency trading bot activity, exchange treasury rebalancing, and repeated smart contract transactions, all of which can otherwise distort the picture of organic stablecoin use.

That matters for investors and operators because it changes what “volume” is measuring. Instead of treating every on-chain movement as equal, the adjusted view is meant to better approximate how stablecoins are actually being used for transferring value and supporting payment or DeFi flows.

USDC takes most of the transaction share

While Tether’s USDt remains the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, Visa data indicates that the majority of June transaction volume belonged to USDC. According to Visa, USDC accounted for around 67% of adjusted stablecoin transaction volume, totaling approximately $1.21 trillion for the month.

USDT contributed about 32% of June volume, or roughly $576 billion, based on Visa’s figures. Visa also identified PayPal’s PYUSD as the third-largest stablecoin by transaction volume in June, with $2.42 billion.

The gap between market cap leadership and transaction share is an important nuance for readers tracking stablecoin adoption. Market cap can reflect a stablecoin’s overall supply, while transaction volume can reflect which assets are being used most frequently across on-chain rails—especially on networks where specific ecosystems and user behaviors concentrate activity.

Base and Ethereum lead; Tron remains a top alternative

Visa’s network breakdown shows that stablecoin activity in June was heavily concentrated. The most widely used network was Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 network Base, which recorded about $565 billion in adjusted stablecoin transaction volume—approximately 31.5% of the total. Ethereum followed closely with about $562 billion.

Tron ranked third with about $320 billion, representing roughly 18% of the adjusted total. Together, these results suggest that June’s growth was not confined to a single ecosystem, but that it remains anchored in the networks where stablecoin liquidity and on-chain usage are already dense.

Visa also highlighted that Base and Ethereum dominated stablecoin volumes in June, aligning with the broader trend that stablecoins often follow where payments and DeFi activity cluster—particularly when users want efficient settlement on widely supported chains.

What the record could signal for stablecoin resilience

Industry analysts framed June’s record as evidence that stablecoins are increasingly behaving like infrastructure, not just a speculative sidecar to wider crypto price cycles. Commenting on the figures, Zach Pandl, head of research at Grayscale, said the month was “another record month for stablecoin transaction volume,” describing it as arriving “just ahead of February 2026.”

Nick Ruck, director of LVRG Research, told Cointelegraph that the record volume demonstrates resilience during a broader crypto bear market. He argued that stablecoins’ rising role reflects persistent demand for value transfer, liquidity provisioning, and decentralized finance activity that continues independently of speculative price movements.

Ruck predicted stablecoins will continue to mature, framing them as a “foundational layer” for the Web3 economy. The key takeaway for readers is that the direction of stablecoin adoption may be less tied to market sentiment than it is to real-world settlement needs—especially as on-chain infrastructure improves and more payment workflows incorporate stablecoin settlement.

Open USD adds competitive pressure in payments

Alongside the volume milestone, the stablecoin market continues to attract new entrants. Open Standard announced Open USD (OUSD), supported by more than 140 payments, banking, technology, and crypto companies, including Visa and Mastercard, according to earlier coverage from Cointelegraph.

Even if OUSD does not yet meaningfully shift transaction shares at the scale Visa is measuring, announcements like this underscore that issuers and payments groups see continued room for growth in stablecoin rails—particularly where interoperability and compliance expectations are evolving.

Going forward, the biggest question for traders, builders, and compliance-minded users is whether record volumes are sustained and broadened across more networks and products—or whether growth remains concentrated in a handful of ecosystems. Visa’s “adjusted” methodology should help clarify that trend, but the market will still need time to confirm whether June’s surge signals durable, economy-wide adoption.