This year, the total value settled with stablecoins surpassed the total value settled with Mastercard, which processed around $2.2 trillion in value in 2022.
The ongoing bear market has had little effect on the increasing use of stablecoins. On the contrary, dollar-pegged coins such as USDT and USDC saw a parabolic increase in market cap this year, becoming the crypto industry’s de facto settlement currency.
Following the demise of Terra and its algorithmic stablecoin UST, the two stablecoin behemoths absorbed the vast majority of stablecoin volumes — and show no signs of abating.
According to data, over $7 trillion in value was settled with stable coins in 2022.
According to some analysts, the value settled with stablecoins could reach $9 trillion in 2023, trailing only Visa, which processes around $12 trillion in value per year.
Others believe that their on-chain volume will outnumber not only Visa, but also the combined volume of the four major card networks — Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover.
Even if the settlement value remains flat next year, it will outperform almost all other large settlement providers, including Mastercard, American Express, and Discover.
Mastercard, the world’s second-largest card issuer, has processed approximately $2.2 trillion in value so far in 2022, trailing the combined settlement value of the seven largest stable coins.
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