Stablecoins are becoming the settlement layer for tokenized traditional finance. Binance Research says stablecoin-settled perpetual contracts tied to traditional assets topped $1.1 trillion in trading volume during the first half of 2026.
That’s about 11% of all crypto perpetual trading volume. The report notes stablecoins are no longer just temporary trading assets — they’re long-term stores of value. 30% of Binance exchange users now hold more than half their portfolios in stablecoins. In 2020, that number was 4%.
The global stablecoin market cap sits at roughly $311 billion, up from $254 billion a year ago. Transaction volume hit a record $1.79 trillion in June, per Visa’s dashboard.
Latin America is a key growth driver. The region’s share of Binance stablecoin transfer users more than doubled to 38% in 2026, from 17% in 2025. People are using stablecoins for cross-border payments — faster and cheaper than traditional remittance.
Bitso reported that USD-pegged stablecoins accounted for 40% of crypto purchases on its platform in 2025, beating Bitcoin’s 18% share for the first time. Former Bybit exec Claudia Wang estimated that remittance corridors outside the US-to-Mexico market represent a $112 billion opportunity for stablecoin issuers.
Traditional remittance companies are taking notice. Western Union launched its USDPT stablecoin on Solana in May. MoneyGram followed with MGUSD on Stellar in June.
