Standard Chartered pushes $2T stablecoin forecast to 2030 as transaction volumes grow

Standard Chartered says stablecoin transaction activity continues to grow even as the market’s overall value has stalled, suggesting existing stablecoins are circulating more frequently rather than new supply driving growth.

In a report shared with Cointelegraph, the bank said it now expects stablecoin market capitalization to reach $2 trillion by 2030, two years later than initially projected, after the market plateaued at roughly $309 billion this year.

Geoffrey Kendrick, StanChart’s head of digital assets research, said stablecoin usage continues to expand despite slower supply growth, with existing stablecoins changing hands more frequently as their use cases diversify.

Kendrick identified four distinct markets, each with different competitive dynamics. Tether’s USDt (USDT) dominates emerging-market savings, while Circle’s USDC (USDC) leads developed-market payments. USDC and Ethena’s USDe have established strong positions in crypto trading, while USDC also leads the much smaller market for transactions between AI agents.

The bank expects the most intense competition in developed market payments, where challengers such as USDG, M^0 and multibank stablecoin networks are pursuing alternatives to existing payment infrastructure.