# 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