Research: More than 90% of stablecoin transactions are not from real users

More than 90% of stablecoin trading volume does not come from real users, according to a new metric developed by Visa, suggesting that such crypto tokens may be far from becoming a commonly used payment method. The dashboard designed by Visa and Allium Labs is designed to remove transactions initiated by robots and large traders to separate transactions from real users. Visa said that of the total stablecoin trading volume of about $2.2 trillion in April, only $149 billion came from organic payment activity. Visa's findings challenge the view of stablecoin supporters that tokens pegged to assets such as the US dollar are expected to revolutionize the $150 trillion payments industry. For stablecoins, transactions can often be double-counted depending on the platform to which users transfer funds. For example, converting $100 USDC to PYUSD on decentralized exchange Uniswap will result in $200 of total stablecoin trading volume recorded on the chain, said Cuy Sheffield, head of cryptocurrency at Visa. (Bloomberg)