Stablecoin Adoption Projections Reach $1.5 Quadrillion by 2035

Stablecoins are increasingly being used for real economic activity beyond crypto trading, with a growing share of on-chain volume consisting of payments, remittances, and settlements.

A recent report by Chainalysis has projected that stablecoin volumes could reach as high as $1.5 quadrillion by 2035, driven by the transfer of wealth from older to younger generations and rising merchant adoption.

According to the report, adjusted data suggest that stablecoins processed around $28 trillion in real economic volume in 2025, excluding inflated activity such as bot-driven transfers and liquidity provisioning. This figure is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 133% since 2023, reaching a baseline of roughly $719 trillion by 2035.

The report highlights two structural forces that could push adoption beyond this baseline:

1. Generational wealth transfer: As Millennials and Gen Z become the dominant economic groups in North America and Europe around 2028, their preferences are likely to shape future payment systems. This shift alone could add an estimated $508 trillion to annual stablecoin transaction volumes by 2035.

2. Rising merchant adoption: As more merchants turn stablecoins into a default payment option rather than an alternative, payment behavior may follow the same path as credit cards, shifting from optional to standard infrastructure.