Beyond Dollarization

The rise of local currency stablecoins

An in-depth analysis of non-USD stablecoins across payments, FX, treasury, and DeFi — with onchain data and institutional case studies.

Total Supply Over Time

3x expansion in three years

Non-USD stablecoin supply grew from ~$350M to $1.1B (ex-EURT), outpacing USD stablecoin growth over the same period. The Nov 2024 dip reflects Tether's EURT discontinuation under MiCA.

Key Findings

Euro Dominance

Euro stablecoins represent 80%+ of total supply and 85% of transfer volume, accelerated by MiCA compliance and EURC's deep DeFi integration.

BRL Breakout

Brazilian real stablecoins grew 8x in volume YoY, driven by PIX integration and domestic payment rails connecting to global settlement.

JPY Emergence

Yen stablecoins accelerated after Japan's Payment Services Act amendments enabled regulated issuance, with JPYC leading FSA-compliant adoption.

SGD Corridors

XSGD powers real-time cross-border settlement across Southeast Asian wallets, cards, and QR systems — invisible to the end user.

Payments-First Usage

Excluding EURC, 80% of activity consists of simple transfers consistent with payments, payroll, and settlement — not DeFi yield strategies.

Visa Infrastructure

Visa enables stablecoin settlement across cards, payouts, and treasury workflows — bridging onchain liquidity with 175M+ merchant acceptance points.

Activity Breakdown

Where the volume flows

Transfer volume composition as of early 2026 across Solana and EVM chains. Unidentified transfers likely include P2P payments, settlement, and off-ramp flows.

• Monthly Vol: $10B
• Unidentified Transfers: ~38% (Payments, P2P, settlement, off-ramps)
• Lending: ~29% (Aave, Morpho, Fluid — mostly EURC)
• DEX Activity: ~17% (Swaps + liquidity provision)
• CEX Flows: ~14% (Deposits, withdrawals, settlement)
• Other: ~2% (Bridges, governance, misc)

Market Share

Total supply by currency

As of February 2026, across the $1.1B tracked non-USD stablecoin market:

• EUR: ~80% (EURC and EURT, driven by MiCA)
• BRL: ~10% (PIX integration and domestic rails)
• SGD: ~1.5% (XSGD cross-border settlement, SE Asia)
• JPY: ~1.5% (JPYC, FSA-compliant issuance)
• Other: ~7% (GBP, ARS, CHF and emerging pilots)

Who should read this

Banks and financial institutions

To explore stablecoin settlement.

Payment providers and fintechs

To navigate multi-currency flows.

Researchers and investors in emerging markets

To track local currency stablecoin adoption.

Quotes

“EURC delivers trusted, fully reserved onchain euro flows for global commerce and real-time settlement.”

Eran Shtiegman, SVP, Product Management, Circle

“BRLA operates as invisible settlement infrastructure, while users interact only with familiar payment rails.”

Pedro Furtado, CPO, Picnic

“Real adoption at scale requires local rails, local compliance, and local denominations.”

Matheus Mora, Co-Founder and CEO, Avenia

“XSGD helps reduce unnecessary FX exposure while supporting a more balanced regional payments infrastructure.”

Tianwei Liu, CEO and Co-Founder, StraitsX