This quarter, it appears likely that stablecoin volumes will surpass those of Visa, according to research firm Sacra. Sacra’s co-founder, Jan-Erik Asplund, wrote in a blog post that stablecoins are an ideal solution for cross-border money movements and could exceed Visa’s total payment volume, reaching over $4 trillion. Asplund emphasized that stablecoins facilitate cross-border payments, offer faster transaction times, and are more cost-effective compared to traditional methods. He also pointed out that major banks are increasingly using stablecoins in their payment infrastructures, demonstrating their growing acceptance in the financial world.
However, Cuy Sheffield, Visa’s crypto head, disagrees with this view. He believes that stablecoin transactions are not performed by real users and argues that they are not “traditionally acceptable.” According to a dashboard launched by Visa, it is claimed that 90% of stablecoin transactions in the last 30 days were not made by real users.
In April, the total stablecoin transaction volume reached approximately $2.2 trillion. However, only less than 10% of this volume, around $149 billion, was classified as transactions made by credit companies. The majority of the volume consisted of automated transactions conducted by bots and organizations like centralized exchanges.
Visa announced a collaboration with Allium Labs at the end of April to develop a revised stablecoin transaction metric for a dashboard. The aim of this new metric is to eliminate potential distortions from inorganic activities and artificial inflationary practices, ensuring more accurate and reliable stablecoin transaction data.
It is important to note that the information provided in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware of the high volatility and risks associated with cryptocurrencies and should conduct their own research.