Stablecoin payment volume grew 45% year-to-date to $482 billion, while circulating supply increased by just 0.4%.

On October 18, according to CoinDesk, blockchain analytics firm Allium data shows stablecoin payment volume reached $482 billion in the first nine months of 2026, a year-on-year increase of 45%, with the number of transactions growing 71% to over 1 billion. During the same period, the total circulating market capitalization of stablecoins stood at approximately $305 billion, representing only a 0.4% year-to-date increase. Spending via stablecoin-linked bank cards reached $3.9 billion, marking a tenfold year-on-year expansion, where micro-transactions under $50 accounted for 84% of the incremental card transactions.

Meanwhile, Mastercard, Stripe, and Visa are further integrating stablecoins into traditional payment networks. Mastercard has launched its Global Money Platform, which integrates fiat accounts, stablecoin balances, exchanges, card payments, and bank withdrawals; Stripe is collaborating with Plasma to develop a payment card supporting multiple currencies and stablecoin balances; and Visa Direct has commercially rolled out USDC prefunding services via Inyo Global for near real-time cross-border payments.

However, Allium pointed out that of the $97.9 trillion in raw stablecoin transfers through September, only $2.4 trillion were categorized as end-user activity, which is precisely where the $482 billion in payment volume originates. The scale of stablecoin card payments remains minimal, amounting to just 0.03% of Visa's approximately $4 trillion in payment volume during the second quarter.