The stablecoin market has been making waves in the payments industry over the past year. A number of fintechs, including Revolut, Tether, and Circle, have recently made announcements aimed at enhancing their stablecoin profiles. This comes in the wake of a regulatory boost and a series of fintechs seeking bank charters. Banks, too, are considering how to tap into this rapidly growing market.
Stablecoins are digital tokens that are pegged to a stable asset, typically a fiat currency like the dollar or euro. They have been touted as a way to reduce the volatility typically associated with cryptocurrencies, making them potentially more suitable for everyday transactions.
Despite this, a recent report from McKinsey suggests that stablecoin payments currently account for only a small fraction of the global payments market. The consultancy firm partnered with blockchain analytics firm Artemis Analytics to separate trading, internal fund movements and automated activity from payments. They found that actual stablecoin payments totaled closer to $390 billion in 2025 — or about 0.02% of global payments volume.
Tether invests in web market Whop
In a bid to integrate stablecoins more deeply into “real economic activity,” stablecoin issuer Tether has invested in the internet marketplace, Whop. While the investment amount remains undisclosed, Tether hopes the partnership will simplify the processing for customers who use USDT and USAT for international payments. Whop currently supports over 18.4 million users, earning approximately $3 billion annually.
Circle touts stablecoin growth
Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, has reported significant growth in its circulation. At the end of 2025, there were $75.3 billion of the stablecoin in circulation, up 72% from the previous year. In addition to this, Circle recently reported a net loss from continuing operations in 2025 of $70 million, largely due to stock-based compensation related to vesting conditions met by its IPO.
Revolut joins a UK stablecoin sandbox
London fintech Revolut has been selected by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to test stablecoin technology in a “sandbox,” a controlled setting with less regulatory pressure than a real-world environment. The FCA also selected fintechs Monee Financial Technologies, ReStabilise, and VVTX to study how stablecoins would perform under pending regulations and economic risk.
Visa boosts its profile in Argentina
Global payments giant Visa has agreed to acquire Prisma and Newpay from private equity firm Advent International. Both firms primarily serve clients in Argentina, with Prisma offering credit, debit, and prepaid cards, and Newpay providing real-time payments, managing the local Benelco ATM network and bill payment platform PagoMisCuentas. Visa plans to combine the two firms to accelerate the deployment of tokenization, biometric authentication, advanced risk management, and agentic commerce.
MoneyGram lends its scale to UK blockchain project
Money transfer giant MoneyGram has joined forces with Vodafone and eToro to operate three of the ten nodes for a new blockchain from the Midnight Foundation, a decentralized commerce organization. MoneyGram will also collaborate with the Midnight Foundation to explore ways for traditional payment networks to adopt blockchains while managing inhibiting factors such as privacy, compliance, and security.
Despite the growth and anticipated demand, stablecoin payments remain a small part of the overall payments market. Nonetheless, the potential for stablecoins to address inefficiencies in cross-border payments and the growing interest from banks suggest that this market is ripe for further exploration and investment.
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