Stablecoins Are Permeating into Real Life in Various Ways

Stablecoins are quickly becoming a part of everyday life in various ways beyond simply being a means of storing wealth.

Abroad, people are paying with stablecoins for everything from bread and electronics to Grab rides and hotel bookings. As the use of stablecoins for small-ticket consumption is becoming more common, the potential impact of Europe's new Virtual Currency Market Act (MiCA), which sets standards for issuers of stablecoins, is also heating up.

Recently, cryptocurrency payment platform Oobit reported that 70% of virtual currency payments in Europe are spent on retail, food and beverage purchases.

According to a recent analysis by crypto analytics firm Artemis in February, the number of active wallets for major stablecoins has increased by more than 50% in a year.

In addition to the increase in adoption by institutional investors, the report cited increased use of stablecoins in payments and decentralized finance (DeFi) as the reason for the increase in active address of stablecoins.

According to a report by crypto analytics firm Dune, the total market capitalization of major stablecoins reached an all-time high of $231 billion as of March.

The use of stablecoins is becoming increasingly common in Europe, as small-ticket consumption is driving the demand for these digital currencies. A large portion of these payments are going towards retail, food and beverage purchases.

According to cryptocurrency payment platform Oobit, 70% of virtual currency payments in Europe are spent on retail, food and beverage purchases. The average payment amount of Ubit application users was $8.36 and the average deposit was $85, indicating that it is highly utilized in small payments.

This trend is also evident in the increasing use of stablecoins by major companies. In Singapore, for example, you can now buy Sony electronics or top up your Metro installment with USDC and USDT.

Earlier this year, Sony Singapore partnered with CryptoCom (Crypto.com ) to introduce USDC and USDT payment services.

According to reports by crypto analytics firms Artemis and Dune, the number of active wallets for major stablecoins increased by more than 50% in a year.

From February 2024 to February this year, the number of active addresses increased from 1.6 million to 30 million, up 53% year-on-year, the report said.

According to a recent analysis by Artemis, the market capitalization of major stablecoins reached an all-time high of $231 billion as of March.

This continues the 18-month period of growth in the stablecoin market.

As the use of stablecoins continues to expand, we can expect to see even more innovation in the cryptocurrency industry.

According to EY Coinbase's survey of 344 companies around the world this year, the number of companies using DeFi finance will triple from 24% now to 75% in the next two years.

However, unlike the situation overseas where its use as a means of payment is expanding, stablecoins in Korea are mainly limited to transferring to overseas virtual asset exchanges and holding dollar assets.

According to a report published last month by Hashed Open Research, 60.7% of all respondents held stablecoins for investment purposes on overseas virtual asset exchanges. This was followed by the purpose of holding ▲ dollar assets (37.7%) ▲ fiscal transactions aimed at profits (29.7%) ▲ deposit interest income (24.3%) ▲ business purpose remittance (15.3%) and ⁷personal remittance (13.7%).

Industry experts accept that the expansion of stablecoins' influence is an unstoppable trend.

"The volume of the stable coin market in 2024 is $27 trillion, which is larger than the combined Visa and Master trading volume," said Patrick Yoon, Korea’s general manager of CryptoCom. "The boundaries between digital and traditional finance are blurring."

Deloitte also predicted in a recent report that the size of the stablecoin payment market will exceed $1 trillion in the next five years, and that stablecoin will play a key role in the future payment system.