Bots Drive Majority of Automated Stablecoin Transactions

Approximately 90% of stablecoin transactions involve bots rather than human involvement, according to a recent report by Visa and Allium. This means that of the $2.2 trillion in stablecoin transactions recorded last month, only $149 billion was attributed to actual funds activity. The report highlights the prevalence of inorganic transactions in the stablecoin market, raising questions about the true extent of its adoption for practical use.

Stablecoins: Majority of Transactions Automated, Led by Bots

According to recently released data from Visa and blockchain data provider Allium, approximately 90% of recorded stablecoin transactions are not initiated by human users. Bots and automated processes account for the vast majority of these transactions, with less than 10% attributable to direct customer actions.

This disparity underscores the prevalence of inorganic transactions in the stablecoin market. For instance, on May 5th, $51.6 billion worth of stablecoin transactions were processed, but only $4.6 billion represented genuine user activity after excluding automated operations.

Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies whose value is pegged to another currency (fiat or digital), a commodity (such as gold), or a financial instrument. Major stablecoins include Tether (USDT), Circle's USDC, Paxo's USDP, and PayPal's PYUSD, all of which are pegged to the US dollar.

Cuy Sheffield, Visa's head of crypto, responded to a Coin Metrics chart suggesting that stablecoins were gaining traction against established settlement networks. However, Sheffield emphasized that transactions initiated by smart contracts, without human involvement, cannot be directly compared to traditional payment processor transactions.

Stablecoins were developed to address the high volatility associated with most cryptocurrencies. For a currency to effectively function as a medium of exchange, it must maintain relative stability, ensuring that its purchasing power remains largely unchanged over a short period.

Tether (USDT) is the dominant stablecoin, serving as a medium for traders to engage in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency transactions. Tether accounts for over 50% of Bitcoin's daily trading volume and up to 70% of other major cryptocurrencies.

The recent data highlights the increasing automation and institutional adoption of stablecoins. While they provide benefits such as stability and settlement efficiency, it is essential to recognize the dominance of bot-driven transactions in the current stablecoin landscape.