The shift towards a multi-trillion-dollar stablecoin economy is gaining momentum, with Western Union’s stablecoin integration, as well as PayPal and Ripple’s issuances, signaling a significant turning point. According to a recent report, stablecoins are already systemically important, processing $46 trillion annually and rapidly accumulating US debt, with issuance rising to about $300 billion and potentially reaching $7-10 trillion as regulation, banks, and businesses align.
Stablecoins: A Growing Force in Global Finance
The supply of stablecoins has increased from $28 billion in 2020 to nearly $300 billion today, despite regulatory uncertainty, limited institutional approval, and limited access – all factors now working in their favor. Given current trends, issuance volume could plausibly reach $10 trillion within five to ten years. This growth is driven by various factors, including cross-border payments, emerging market dollarization, corporate treasuries, money market substitution, RWA settlement, and DeFi collateral, each driving trillion-dollar tailwinds.
Cross-Border Payments and Transfers
The global cross-border payments market generates $200 billion in annual revenue and processes more than $40 trillion in volume. However, even a modest transfer of $200 still incurs fees of over 6% on average and can take days to process. Stablecoins offer near-instant settlement with fees below 1%. Circle launched its payments network to capitalize on this opportunity and enable real-time cross-border settlement using USDC (USDC). If stablecoins capture just 30% of cross-border settlement flows and funds remain in transit for an average of 15 to 30 days, the required float alone would be $500 to $1 trillion.
Dollarization of Emerging Markets
As Standard Chartered predicts, up to $1 trillion in bank deposits in emerging markets could be converted into stablecoins within three years. Of the roughly $10 trillion in global savings at risk, a 10-15% shift could increase demand by an additional $1-1.5 trillion. This shift is driven by the need for more efficient and cost-effective financial solutions, which stablecoins can provide.
Corporate Treasury Management
Global corporate cash holdings exceed $8 trillion. In the US alone, companies manage more than $4 trillion in cash and equivalents. With the focus in 2025 on managing tariffs, tariff changes, and geopolitics, efficient treasury tools are essential. A multinational corporation can move stablecoins between subsidiaries in Singapore, São Paulo, and San Francisco in seconds without having to wait for correspondent banks. If just 5-10% of global corporate money migrates to stablecoin rails, that’s $1-2 trillion.
Replacement of Money Market Funds
U.S. money market fund assets just reached a record $7.57 trillion. Globally, the figure is almost $10 trillion. Tokenized money market products offer instant settlement, 24/7 availability, and seamless integration into financial applications. BlackRock’s BUIDL, Ondo Finance’s OUSG, and similar Treasury-backed tokens are already closing this gap, while Goldman Sachs and BNY Mellon launched tokenized money market fund solutions – a clear signal that Wall Street sees on-chain settlement as the future of cash management. If 20-30% of MMF capital is migrated to on-chain equivalents, that represents $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion in demand for stablecoins.
Handling RWA Tokenization
PwC predicts that tokenized fund assets will grow from $90 billion to $715 billion by 2030. Industry estimates from McKinsey suggest that $2 trillion to $16 trillion worth of bonds, funds, and securities could be on-chain by the early 2030s. A settlement currency is required for every trade in tokenized assets. If 8-10% of the tokenized asset needs to be held for settlement and liquidity, we are looking at $2-3 trillion.
Crypto-Native Demand
In September 2025, monthly trading volume on Perpetual Protocols exceeded $1 trillion for the first time. Platforms like Hyperliquid work almost exclusively with stablecoin collateral. As DeFi matures and institutions enter, demand for collateral across trading, lending, and liquidity could reach $500 trillion to $1 trillion.
State and Institutional Reserves
Global foreign exchange reserves exceed $12.5 trillion, with assets totaling about $7 trillion. While central banks will not launch stablecoins tomorrow, smaller sovereign wealth funds and quasi-sovereign entities are exploring allocations. Even minimal penetration, with just one G20 central bank experimenting with stablecoins, could have seismic consequences.
The Math Adds Up
Adding these estimates gives a forward-looking range of $7 trillion to $10 trillion. This goes beyond Citi’s $4 trillion bull market or Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s $3 trillion forecast by 2030 and captures decades of compounding effects. The question then becomes, “Who will capture the value of this growth?” The answer increasingly points to a new category of companies created specifically for this moment.
Every Fortune 500 Company Will Be a DAT
Matt Zhang, former global head of structured products trading at Citi and now head of Hivemind Capital, predicts that “in 10 years, every Fortune 500 company will be a DAT in some way.” When a Wall Street veteran with 15 years of experience in institutional trading makes this decision, it signals where corporate finance is headed, and by and large, we are moving into Act II. The digital asset treasury space has grown from four companies in 2020 to over 142 today.
For more information on the path to a $10 trillion stablecoin economy, visit https://crypto.news/the-path-to-10-trillion-stablecoin-economy-is-underway/
Colin Butler is EVP, Capital Markets and Head of Global Financing at Mega Matrix Inc. (NYSE American: MPU), a digital asset treasury firm focused on a multi-stablecoin governance basket including Ethena, Sky, Hyperliquid, and Aster. The views expressed are his own and do not constitute investment advice.
