Stablecoins are transitioning from financial instruments to everyday payment methods. Although they currently account for only about 5% of global transaction volume, they are experiencing rapid growth across multiple industries and regions.

Overview of the Consumer Market
B2B corporate payments represent the most mature application of stablecoins, with an annual transaction volume of approximately $36 billion, primarily used for cross-border supplier payments and payroll. On the retail side, over 25,000 merchants now accept stablecoins, with e-commerce, travel, and gaming emerging as early adopters.

Usage Scenarios and Behavior
Approximately 67% of stablecoin usage remains concentrated in DeFi and speculative trading, with only 5% directly spent at merchants. In emerging markets, consumers prefer using stablecoins for large purchases, often exceeding local fiat payment amounts, and usage peaks on weekdays.

Payment Infrastructure
Stablecoin payments are primarily integrated through two pathways:

1. Independent wallet integrations that connect via QR codes to stablecoins like USDC and USDT, with merchants ultimately receiving fiat.

2. Gateway and POS system integrations that support stablecoin acceptance and allow merchants to choose between receiving stablecoins or fiat.

Industry Adoption

Retail and E-commerce
Over 25,000 merchants globally accept stablecoins. According to NOWPayments, stablecoins now constitute 57% of all cryptocurrency payments.

Travel and Hospitality
While cryptocurrencies account for less than 1% of travel spending, stablecoin orders are growing rapidly. On the Travala platform, approximately 77% of orders are paid with cryptocurrencies, predominantly stablecoins.

Gaming Industry
Over 35% of gamers have used cryptocurrencies for purchases, with 70% of these transactions conducted in stablecoins. The blockchain gaming market is projected to reach $85 billion by the end of 2025, with stablecoins serving as a core tool for in-game purchases and rewards.

B2B Payments
Corporations are adopting stablecoins primarily for enhanced settlement efficiency and cost savings. Cross-border payment fees can be reduced to below 0.1%, significantly lower than the 2%-5% charged by traditional banks.

Neobank Case Study
Digital banks like Rizon, through Visa card integrations, enable users to spend stablecoins directly at over 100 million merchants worldwide. According to CoinGate, under the influence of Europe's MiCA regulations, USDC payment volume surged by 760% year-over-year, making it the preferred choice for merchant settlements.

Although the everyday use of stablecoins is still in its early stages, improving infrastructure and regulatory clarity are accelerating their adoption, particularly in regions with strong demand for cross-border payments and financial inclusion.

Summary
By 2025, spending stablecoins on daily consumption is no longer a romantic notion of "global financial democratization and inclusion" but a tangible reality. While the broader crypto market fluctuates between bull cycles and regulatory adjustments, with most activity centered on capital flows, remittances, and DeFi infrastructure, stablecoins have carved out a durable niche: they are being used for payments and consumption, not just storage or trading.

However, a closer look reveals that less than 10% of this activity is linked to actual spending—purchasing goods and services. Yet, this seemingly modest 10% is expanding visibly, quietly rewriting the rules in the crevices of daily life. From street vendors to cross-border worker remittances, stablecoins are no longer just toys for "crypto geeks" but tangible payment options in consumers' pockets. Businesses are taking notice, with capital and products aligning around this emerging trend.

Consumer use of stablecoins for daily expenses resembles a bottom-up spark. Whether this spark ignites a wildfire depends on who seizes the opportunity first, igniting subsequent demand. To this end, we compiled "Where are stablecoins being spent?" and incorporated firsthand observations to pinpoint that initial glow and outline the trajectory it is poised to illuminate.

I. Consumer Market Overview
In the B2B corporate payment space, stablecoins have gained significant traction. Companies in logistics, software, and financial services are using stablecoins for cross-border supplier payments, contractor payroll, and treasury operations. The stablecoin B2B economy is estimated to be running at an annualized rate of $36 billion, with momentum accelerating as regulatory clarity improves in key markets like the U.S. (GENIUS Act), EU (MiCA), and Hong Kong.

In the B2C consumer spending arena, growth is slower but positive. Over 25,000 merchants globally accept stablecoins for e-commerce transactions, and point-of-sale (POS) pilot projects are underway in parts of Southeast Asia and Latin America.

Early adopter industries for stablecoin spending include digital commerce, travel, hospitality, and gaming.

Payment infrastructure providers are driving the use of stablecoins in everyday contexts, enabling users to spend USDC, USDT, and other tokens without relying on native crypto applications. In 2025, Blue Origin began accepting debit cards linked to stablecoins for space flight reservations. Uber is reportedly piloting cryptocurrency payments to drivers in Latin America. Web3-native gaming platforms use stablecoins for in-game purchases, enabling chargeback-free microtransactions and fast settlements for global users.

Despite these advancements, retail transactions still account for less than 5% of global stablecoin usage, highlighting a significant gap between infrastructure availability and consumer behavior.

For institutions, the conclusion is clear: everyday spending with stablecoins is a reality, but its distribution is highly uneven.

Geographically, emerging markets lead in practical application. In Latin America, stablecoins are increasingly used at pharmacies, cafes, and local merchants, often as a hedge against inflation or an alternative to traditional banking services. In Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, stablecoins are used to access global goods and services otherwise unavailable due to fragmented payment channels.

B2B fund flows are growing the fastest, representing the most accessible opportunity for stablecoin infrastructure providers, exchanges, and fintech platforms. Retail and consumer adoption, though smaller in scale, is strategically significant, especially in regions where stablecoins genuinely address financial pain points.

Infrastructure is ready, and regulation is catching up. Today, competition hinges on distribution capabilities, user experience, and corporate partnerships. Stablecoins are no longer just "payment channels"; they are entering checkout processes and officially appearing on balance sheets.

II. The Consumer Economy of Stablecoins
The data tells a clear story: despite growing infrastructure maturity and expanding real-world use, the vast majority of stablecoin activity remains in financial applications—trading, liquidity provision, remittance channels. Only a small but increasingly meaningful portion truly touches the consumer economy, and corporate attention is shifting accordingly.

2.1 Stablecoin Usage Scenarios
Despite growing prominence, stablecoins are primarily financial tools. Approximately 67% of global usage is dominated by decentralized finance (DeFi), liquidity management, and speculative trading—these are not "daily consumption" activities but capital flows driven by efficiency and arbitrage. Another 15% of stablecoin circulation falls under "payment-like" cross-border remittances, rarely entering formal commercial channels like point-of-sale or invoice settlements.

Only about 5% of global stablecoin volume is used directly at merchants—whether in physical retail, e-commerce, or service industries like hospitality and gaming. This figure, derived from merchant processor data and on-chain analysis, highlights that stablecoins are still nascent in consumption scenarios but have grown significantly compared to previous years and continue to rise quarterly. The remaining 10% is used for inflation hedging and stable value storage.

2.2 Consumption Patterns: Behavior, Timing, and Incentives
Where stablecoin payments do occur in retail, the data reveals clear trends.

Transaction amounts tend to be slightly higher than local fiat payments, partly because consumers perceive stablecoins as "more valuable and stable than local currency." In grocery stores and pharmacies, bulk purchases or stockpiling are common. Temporal patterns also show unique rhythms: in urban areas, stablecoin transactions peak on weekday mornings and evenings, coinciding with commutes and lunch breaks; weekend usage dips slightly, possibly because leisure spending relies more on cash or mobile banking. Incentive programs are becoming key for retention. Many merchants in Latin America and Eastern Europe offer around 1% cashback for stablecoin spending, combined with gamified points in wallets, particularly appealing to younger demographics who already hold crypto assets and value real-time rewards. Interestingly, some merchants report that stablecoin users are more willing to pay tips, especially in service industries like food and beauty. This may reflect a psychological disconnect from the spending context or a desire to "support" merchants who accept crypto.

Another characteristic of cryptocurrency payments is higher spending. According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), by 2024, the average cryptocurrency payment amount is projected to be 30% higher than traditional payment methods. Travel and hospitality account for 14% of these crypto transactions. Airline bookings accepting cryptocurrency have grown by 40%.

Travala processed over $100 million in booking revenue last year, $80 million of which was in cryptocurrency, an 80% year-over-year increase. It notes that crypto users spend 2.5 times more per booking than non-crypto users and have three times the lifetime value. Accepting cryptocurrency allows travel providers to attract both a growing mass market and ultra-high-end spenders, resembling a "crypto wealth effect" where users benefiting from crypto gains are more willing to spend.

In this regard, cryptocurrency is thriving in two areas: first, in developing markets with high inflation, where many unbanked consumers are booking budget travel; second, among elite crypto holders booking luxury experiences.

2.3 How Can Stablecoins Achieve Mass Adoption in Everyday Spending?
The integration of stablecoin payments into retail POS systems remains fragmented. Although both are called stablecoin acceptance, current market implementations primarily fall into two categories:

A. Independent Wallet Integration—Direct connection to USDC, USDT, or regional stablecoin wallets via QR code payment systems. This approach typically requires no new hardware and can go live within days, making it attractive to small merchants.

This model does not alter the merchant's QR code receipt system; merchants still receive fiat, while the stablecoin conversion occurs on the wallet/acquirer side. The obvious advantage is seamless integration into existing global fiat QR code systems, eliminating the barrier of promoting stablecoin acceptance on the merchant side. This is why we see seamless integration of crypto wallets in regions with unified QR codes (e.g., Vietnam, Brazil).

Fund Flow: User pays in stablecoin → wallet/service provider converts to fiat → settlement with merchant in fiat.

B. Gateway and POS Direct Stablecoin Acceptance
Gateways and POS systems integrate stablecoins into platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento via plugins and APIs, allowing merchants to accept token payments without overhauling their checkout process. This approach requires strong market influence and is typically led by large companies directly integrating stablecoins into gateways and POS systems. The obvious advantage is control over merchant-side resources.

Large retailers, especially those with existing payment infrastructure, are beginning to partner with native cryptocurrency payment processors. Companies like BitPay, Flexa, Coingate, Circle Pay, and NowPayments offer APIs and merchant backends that facilitate stablecoin acceptance and fiat settlement. For example, a merchant can accept USDC at the checkout and receive USD or EUR at the end of the day, completely avoiding volatility risk. Additionally, several next-gen POS providers are launching hybrid terminals that support both traditional card swipes and digital assets, with early deployments in markets like Brazil, Turkey, and Kenya.

Fund Flow: User pays in stablecoin → merchant (via payment service provider's dual-wallet account) can choose to receive stablecoins or fiat.

Examples of POS providers:

• Brazil: Cielo (integrated Binance Pay)

• Turkey: PayTR (supports via NOWPayments); Paribu (local crypto exchange)

• Kenya: M-Pesa (integrated BitPay); Kopo Kopo (integrated CoinPayments)

The key to driving adoption lies not only in customer experience but also in user guidance, especially for those unfamiliar with crypto wallet operations. Some merchants are posting educational prompts in-store or training staff, while others are experimenting with incentive mechanisms to attract customers. On the backend, merchants still face challenges with receipt generation, accounting system integration, and tax documentation, which often become bottlenecks for more established businesses adopting stablecoin payments.

2.4 Payment Infrastructure and Routing Mechanisms
Underpinning this shift is increasingly mature stablecoin payment infrastructure. Two main technical paths are emerging:

• Stablecoin Settlement Model: Stablecoins like USDC are directly deposited into crypto wallets.

• Hybrid Routing Model: Stablecoins are automatically converted to fiat at the moment of payment, ensuring predictable revenue and shielding merchants from volatility risk.

Fintech providers specializing in crypto checkout are expanding rapidly; card-issuing platform Rizon has launched a stablecoin-backed Visa card usable at over 150 million merchants in 90+ countries, supporting Apple Pay, Google Pay, and the Visa network. Meanwhile, Fiserv has partnered with Mastercard to issue the FIUSD stablecoin, planning to enable small banks and their merchants to access stablecoin rails in real-time.

E-commerce merchants are gaining tangible benefits from stablecoin integration, with key advantages including:

• Recurring Charges & Subscriptions: Leveraging instant, programmable payments to avoid card network chargebacks and delays.

• Smoother Cross-Border Shopping: Stablecoins bypass traditional channels' forex fees, conversion delays, and counterparty risks.

• Final and Irrevocable Payments: Significantly reducing fraud and operational burdens from chargebacks and disputes.

Data confirms this trend. A Fireblocks survey shows that 48% of enterprises cite "settlement efficiency" as the top reason for adopting stablecoins, 30% prioritize "cost savings," and over 86% believe "infrastructure is ready for immediate deployment." The results are faster customer experiences, lower operational risks, broader global payment reach, and transparent, traceable transactions at the ledger level.

III. Stablecoin Adoption Across Industries
In 2024, according to Visa's Allium data, stablecoins facilitated $27.6 trillion in transaction value across 5.6 billion on-chain transfers. However, excluding speculative and DeFi flows, only 5% (approximately $1.3 trillion) constituted real-world payments, with P2P at 2%, B2C retail at 2%, and B2B commerce at 2%.

McKinsey reports that annual stablecoin transaction volume has exceeded $27 trillion, with payment-related daily throughput estimated at $20–30 billion, still less than 1% of global fund transfers. B2B flows, while operationally significant, amount to only about $400–500 billion annually, on par with broader merchant and institutional usage.

3.1 Physical Retail: The Earliest Emerging Vertical
Currently, stablecoin usage in physical retail remains limited, but early adopters have demonstrated that real-world usability not only exists but is becoming increasingly practical. Although adoption lags behind e-commerce and B2B sectors, 2025 has seen a noticeable increase in acceptance among small and medium-sized merchants—particularly in emerging markets and crypto-friendly urban centers.

Among the brick-and-mortar segments willing to experiment, several stand out. Supermarkets and grocery chains are among the most pragmatic use cases, especially in economies with volatile local currencies. In Argentina and Venezuela, where persistent inflation erodes purchasing power, many grocery stores now accept USDC and USDT directly at checkout, with customers often using mobile wallets or QR codes. Specific examples include:

• Buenos Aires Central Market: Tether's partnership with KriptonMarket enables merchants in this large wholesale and retail produce market to settle in USDT.

• Grocery stores in Buenos Aires' Villa Crespo district: Integrated Binance Pay to accept USDT via QR codes, driven by shortages of physical U.S. dollars.

Food and beverage venues are also embracing stablecoins, particularly cafes, fast-casual restaurants, and food trucks. In El Salvador, while Bitcoin initially grabbed headlines, stablecoins have quietly become the preferred digital payment method for urban residents. Partial examples:

• McDonald's – supports USDT, USDC (via Strike, Bitfinex)

• Starbucks – supports USDT, USDC (via Chivo, Strike)

• Wendy's – supports USDT, USDC (via payment processors)

• Subway – supports USDT, USDC (via Strike, CoinGate)

• Local restaurants in El Zonte ("Bitcoin Beach")

• Juice bars and stalls in San Salvador and La Libertad

3.2 Retail and E-commerce Adoption Status
Merchant acceptance of stablecoins is rising but highly uneven. As of mid-2025, over 25,000 merchants globally support stablecoins, primarily online, with some penetration into physical stores. The most common assets are USDC, USDT, and PYUSD, typically integrated via native crypto checkout processors or stablecoin-linked Visa/Mastercard channels.

In terms of merchant and user penetration, institutional adoption rates continue to climb. NOWPayments notes that stablecoins now constitute 57% of all merchant crypto payments, far exceeding the 7% in 2020. The global retail channel of over 25,000 merchants highlights deepening B2C penetration in e-commerce and digital platforms. User engagement is also expanding: over 150 million blockchain addresses hold stablecoins, with approximately 10 million addresses transacting daily, indicating broad and active usage. Notably, consumer demand is strongest in emerging markets like Latin America and Africa, where institutional stablecoin payment volumes have grown over 200% year-over-year.

According to Visa's blockchain analytics unit, the majority of on-chain stablecoin flows still consist of high-value B2B transfers rather than low-value spending in shopping carts or restaurant bills. For stablecoins to achieve substantial adoption at the point of sale, infrastructure must continue improving, particularly in payment user experience, instant fiat conversion, tax reporting, and merchant incentives.

New use cases are emerging, with some platforms offering cashback rewards to encourage customers to choose stablecoins at checkout, with fees lower than traditional bank cards. In some markets, merchants benefit directly from near-zero processing costs for accepting stablecoins, compared to the 2%–4% fees of traditional payment networks.

3.3 Travel and Hospitality: Early Experiments, Growing Momentum
Consumer-facing travel, hospitality, and digital entertainment spending remain limited, but the industry is actively experimenting with stablecoin payments at a strategic level. However, these use cases are still considered niche, driven more by crypto-native demographics than mainstream demand.

A recent tourism analysis, "The Rise of Cryptocurrency in Travel," notes that while cryptocurrencies currently account for less than 1% of leisure travel spending, this could rise to 3%–5% by 2030. With advantages in price predictability and settlement efficiency, stablecoins are seen as leading this shift.

Cryptorefills reports that in 2024, over 80% of its users made at least one cryptocurrency purchase monthly. Travel is one of its fastest-growing segments, driven largely by digital nomads and conference travelers who also use the platform for eSIMs, travel bookings, and top-ups. Cryptorefills is a B2C platform offering cryptocurrency flight and hotel bookings.

Crypto-focused online travel agency (OTA) Travala reports, "Our largest customer base currently consists of digital nomads and conference travelers, with bookings typically targeting mid-range clients. In 2024, about 78% of bookings were completed with cryptocurrency, compared to less than 8% with credit and debit cards." Cryptocurrency also attracts high-net-worth individuals. "The luxury market holds immense potential." Travala's concierge service targets this segment, offering personalized high-end travel advisors.

More symbolically, in the UAE—where luxury experiences meet regulatory innovation—43% of five-star hotels now accept crypto payments. The purely digital travel platform Travala shows an even more aggressive usage curve: in September 2024, 77% of orders were paid with cryptocurrency, predominantly stablecoins.

These figures mark an inflection point: boutique resorts and forward-thinking chains offer stablecoin options not as a gimmick but for competitive differentiation and global appeal. In the broader travel ecosystem, stablecoins are becoming "full-experience payment" tools:

• From June 2024 to June 2025, crypto payments in travel surged 38% year-over-year, with over 40% conducted in stablecoins.

• Stablecoins are used to book rooms, flights, spas, and transfers, with average transaction values 2.5 times higher than traditional fiat bookings, indicating high-spending characteristics.

These numbers suggest consumers increasingly view stablecoins as a trustworthy medium of exchange, not just for simple bookings but for carefully curated full travel experiences and services.

3.4 The Gaming Industry
In contrast, the gaming industry is proving to be increasingly fertile ground for stablecoin spending. Numerous Web3-native games and virtual environments now accept stablecoins for in-game purchases, NFT transactions, and peer-to-peer settlements among players.

For example, Fortnite, developed by Epic Games, is a centralized non-Web3 game, but certain third-party payment solutions have enabled stablecoin-based transactions, allowing players to use stablecoins like USDC to purchase in-game currency (e.g., V-Bucks). Payment platforms like TransFi have been integrated into the game ecosystem, providing players with such stablecoin payment channels.

Globally, over 35% of gamers have used cryptocurrency for at least one purchase, whether for items, tournament fees, or subscriptions; a striking 70% of these transactions use stablecoins. Blockchain gaming is exploding overall: driven by a 52% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), the global blockchain gaming market is projected to reach $85 billion by the end of 2025.

"Play-to-earn" (P2E) games use stablecoins to distribute rewards, contributing 62% of this market's revenue. At the platform level, 93% of blockchain games have integrated wallet support (e.g., MetaMask, Phantom), and 37% incorporate metaverse elements, creating more spending scenarios for character skins, upgrades, and social interactions.

Similarly, market valuations underscore the scale: tokenized real estate on metaverse platforms now exceeds $112 billion.

Beyond gaming itself, stablecoins are at the heart of high-value virtual goods economies. The metaverse market reached a total value of $316 billion in 2025, with $88 billion in digital goods flow facilitated by stablecoins. Transactions in virtual real estate, avatars, and tokenized assets are expanding rapidly: leading metaverse platform Decentraland generated over $275 million in revenue in 2025 solely from virtual land and digital asset trades, mostly settled in stablecoins.

Underpinning this value is a surge in user base: 70 million monthly users engage with metaverse financial services, with $2.2 billion in daily transaction volume flowing through these virtual settlement systems. With value stability and fast settlements, stablecoins are a natural choice for high-frequency transactions in immersive economies.

By 2025, gaming and entertainment ecosystems have adopted stablecoins as a primary medium of exchange, significantly accelerating in-game economies, virtual experiences, and hybrid scenarios blending with the real world.

3.5 Corporate B2B Payments
A. Cost Reduction and Efficiency Gains

For corporations, efficiency, not just cost, remains the primary consideration. Fireblocks research shows 48% of enterprises rank settlement efficiency as the top benefit of stablecoins, 30% mention cost savings, and 86% claim existing infrastructure is ready for deployment. Operational efficiency improvements are equally notable: a 2025 analysis shows stablecoin settlement systems have compressed remittance and settlement fees to about 2.5%, compared to up to 5% for traditional bank channels.

Cryptocurrencies enable direct, bank-free transactions, reducing costs and improving margins. Travala estimates that the travel industry processes over $11 trillion annually; if blockchain-based solutions reduced fees to 0.1%, $270 billion could be saved yearly. "The advantages are significant: using stablecoins on high-speed networks costs less than a cent in fees, confirmation is nearly instant, there are no chargebacks, and settlement operates 24/7."

B2B transactions also benefit, enabling real-time settlement, eliminating currency exchange risk, and reducing prepayment requirements. But not all crypto solutions are equal.

Future Adoption Trajectory:

• Merchant penetration accelerating – over 57% of crypto merchant payments are now settled in stablecoins.

• User activity broadening – millions of active wallets and transactions daily.

• Operational Benefits: Settlement speed prioritized over cost savings; infrastructure readiness and regulatory coordination rapidly reducing friction; lower costs and transparency making stablecoins an efficient alternative for cross-border and digital commerce.

B. Payment Adoption Scenarios

a. Stablecoins for Supplier, Vendor, and Payroll Payments

According to PYMNTS, B2B stablecoin transaction volume has reached $36 billion annually, making it the largest segment of practical stablecoin use, surpassing P2P and card-linked payments. Artemis Analytics supports this ranking, estimating B2B stablecoin payments account for 50% of total payment volume. Demand is driven by global manufacturing firms, logistics providers, and service companies increasingly using stablecoins to settle cross-border supplier invoices, pay overseas contractors, and streamline payroll.

b. Partnerships and Custody Solutions: Enterprise-Grade Infrastructure

Mastercard is integrating the FIUSD stablecoin into its payment ecosystem, enabling usage across its network of over 150 million merchants and businesses. Meanwhile, Fiserv plans to launch a stablecoin-powered digital asset banking platform, broadly supported by Circle, Paxos, and Solana, bringing regional and community banks into the stablecoin payment system. Major banks like Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Standard Chartered, PayPal, and Stripe are actively developing stablecoin issuance and integration strategies targeting B2B and trade corridors. Enterprise and fintech wallets, SAFE tools, and treasury management systems are now natively designed or upgraded to handle stablecoin flows, enabling corporations to move funds with programmable precision, built-in compliance, and legacy system integration.

The core value proposition centers on instant settlement, avoidance of exchange rate volatility, and near-zero friction channels, particularly benefiting traditionally underserved markets.

c. Liquidity and Cash Management: Internal Corporate Fund Transfers

Large corporations and treasury departments are using stablecoins as programmable liquidity tools. JPMorgan's digital dollar and euro tokens now handle over $1 billion in institutional flow daily, indicating deep integration into automated treasury operations. This expanding scale uses stablecoins as real-time fund conduits, enabling instant internal transfers, automated cash pooling across jurisdictions, and seamless movement between fiat and on-chain digital assets via custodial platforms.

"Neobanks defined what digital banking should look like but never touched the core infrastructure. Stablecoins are that upgrade. Combined, they unlock everything digital banking was supposed to be: instant transfers, low remittance costs, access to global stable currencies." — RIZON

IV. The Rise of Neobanks
With digital-first infrastructure, user-friendly interfaces, and global accessibility, neobanks have become bridges between traditional finance and the crypto-native economy. Rizon's analysis highlights their potential: by 2025, with increasing regulatory clarity and growing user demand for borderless money, neobanks are uniquely positioned to integrate stablecoins into everyday banking experiences—from payroll to payments and savings.

In 2025, global neobank users surpassed 600 million, up from 394 million in 2023, representing a compound annual growth rate of over 30% in recent years.

Giants are taking action. Revolut and N26 are expanding crypto services to include stablecoin transfers and payments; Monzo and Wise are exploring instant, zero-forex cross-border remittances via regulated stablecoin channels. In emerging markets, neobanks like Nubank (Brazil) and Maya (Philippines) have piloted stablecoin-linked wallets for merchant payments and payroll. By embedding stablecoins into core products, neobanks are becoming the gateway for millions to "spend digital dollars, not just trade them."

4.1 Rizon's Neobank Case Study
Rizon is a next-generation non-custodial stablecoin application launched in 2025, aiming to make "digital dollars" truly usable. Operating in 110+ countries, users can deposit, transfer, spend, invest, and receive stablecoins like USDC and USDT at low cost, near real-time. Through virtual and physical Visa cards, users can spend stablecoins at over 100 million merchants and ATMs globally, covering all traditional card-present scenarios.

The non-custodial architecture ensures users fully control their funds and private keys. Rizon already supports tokenized stock trading, 5% spending cashback, and the RizPoints loyalty program, redeemable for flights, hotels, and gift cards. Rizon's mission is simple: make stablecoins a practical alternative to outdated banking systems. Rizon is not just a crypto wallet but a modern financial gateway, enabling global users to access secure, stable, intelligent cross-border financial tools anytime, anywhere.

As the first neobank to fully integrate stablecoin accounts, cards, and APIs into its financial stack, Rizon allows users and businesses to hold, spend, and settle stablecoins as easily as fiat. Through direct integration with Visa, Rizon supports spending stablecoins at over 150 million merchants worldwide, eliminating conversion friction and unlocking real-world utility. With its non-custodial model, anyone with a smartphone and internet connection can participate globally.

Rizon's analysis highlights its potential: with global remittances projected to reach $913 billion by 2025, stablecoins could save $39 billion annually in remittance fees, becoming a key enabler for everyday cross-border payments.

"The nature of money is changing. While the internet has transformed how we work, communicate, and shop, our financial system remains behind: slow, expensive, and inaccessible to billions.

Stablecoins represent a breakthrough: they are digital dollars backed 1:1 by real reserves, enabling instant, borderless, 24/7 transactions without banks or intermediaries. This isn't just another crypto trend; it's a fundamental shift in how money moves. But for the average user, stablecoins remain too complex.

At Rizon, we are building the next layer for money: a simple, secure, and intuitive interface that makes stablecoins accessible to everyone. Just as neobanks did for fiat, we are doing the same for digital dollars—creating financial tools that are inherently global, fair by default, and built for those who need them most." — Ignas Survila, CEO & Co-founder @ RIZON

4.2 CoinGate's Stablecoin Payment Services
CoinGate, a fintech and crypto payment company founded in 2014 and headquartered in Lithuania, specializes in cryptocurrency payment processing and gateway services. Its platform helps merchants accept Bitcoin, stablecoins, and other digital assets, offering fiat conversion services to hedge against volatility. Businesses can integrate CoinGate via API and major e-commerce plugins, seamlessly accessing crypto payments globally.

The company also supports crypto payouts, invoicing, and treasury management features, accompanied by KYC/AML compliance mechanisms. CoinGate serves thousands of merchants, processing hundreds of thousands of crypto transactions annually, aiming to bridge traditional commerce and blockchain payments.

Since 2025, stablecoins remain the backbone of crypto payments on CoinGate's platform, but their share has shifted under regulatory influence. As of this quarter, 31.3% of processed payments are settled in stablecoins. USDT remains the second most frequently used asset, accounting for 19.8% of all transactions, though this data primarily reflects Q1 activity (before MiCA regulation took effect); subsequently, the platform delisted USDT per regulatory requirements. Meanwhile, USDC's transaction share has risen to 11.5%, ranking fourth. By value, stablecoins are even more dominant, accounting for nearly half of total transaction volume.

The larger narrative is how MiCA is redrawing the market landscape. Due to non-compliance with MiCA's stablecoin requirements, USDT has been effectively delisted from numerous regulated platforms within the EU and European Economic Area. Tether has explicitly stated it will not seek compliance, severely limiting its usability in regulated markets. Thus, the decline in USDT usage on the platform is not due to reduced demand but direct regulatory restrictions curbing its circulation. Conversely, USDC, being MiCA-compliant and supporting multiple public chains, has experienced explosive growth: USDC payment volume on CoinGate surged 760% year-over-year; from January to September 2025 alone, usage grew over sixfold. The observed effect is clearly "substitution"—European merchants and consumers who previously used USDT are collectively migrating to USDC.

Regionally, the U.S. remains the largest single market for stablecoin payments at 15%, but if Europe is considered as a whole, it leads globally with 37% of order share. Asia follows at 30%, driven mainly by India and Hong Kong; in Africa, Nigeria is the most prominent market.

In terms of use cases, stablecoins are most concentrated in digital-native industries like adult content, proxy services, and web hosting; meanwhile, gaming, gift cards, and consumer e-commerce show steady growth.

On the payout side, the shift is more pronounced: in 2025, 85% of merchant settlements on CoinGate were chosen to be disbursed in stablecoins. This indicates that for businesses, stablecoins are no longer just another payment option but the preferred settlement layer for cross-border settlements, remittances, and B2B fund flows.

Collectively, the data clearly shows: regulation has become a major force shaping stablecoin adoption. The MiCA regulation in Europe created a "natural experiment": in regulated environments, USDT's share is collapsing, while USDC is rapidly becoming the stablecoin of choice for both consumers and merchants.

V. Conclusion
By 2025, stablecoins are no longer theoretical tools; they are being spent, settled, and scaled in the real economy. From institutional liquidity pipelines to retail checkouts, stablecoins are quietly yet decisively changing how value flows. Although only about 5% of annual transaction volume (approximately $1.3 trillion) is linked to actual goods and services payments, this small portion represents the fastest-growing category in on-chain value transfer. In B2B, e-commerce, hospitality, gaming, and P2P, stablecoin spending is moving from the fringe to a mainstream function.

Stablecoins are transitioning from financial instruments to everyday payment methods. Although they currently account for only about 5% of global transaction volume, they are experiencing rapid growth across multiple industries and regions.

Overview of the Consumer Market
B2B corporate payments represent the most mature application of stablecoins, with an annual transaction volume of approximately $36 billion, primarily used for cross-border supplier payments and payroll. On the retail side, over 25,000 merchants now accept stablecoins, with e-commerce, travel, and gaming emerging as early adopters.

Usage Scenarios and Behavior
Approximately 67% of stablecoin usage remains concentrated in DeFi and speculative trading, with only 5% directly spent at merchants. In emerging markets, consumers prefer using stablecoins for large purchases, often exceeding local fiat payment amounts, and usage peaks on weekdays.

Payment Infrastructure
Stablecoin payments are primarily integrated through two pathways:

1. Independent wallet integrations that connect via QR codes to stablecoins like USDC and USDT, with merchants ultimately receiving fiat.

2. Gateway and POS system integrations that support stablecoin acceptance and allow merchants to choose between receiving stablecoins or fiat.

Industry Adoption

Retail and E-commerce
Over 25,000 merchants globally accept stablecoins. According to NOWPayments, stablecoins now constitute 57% of all cryptocurrency payments.

Travel and Hospitality
While cryptocurrencies account for less than 1% of travel spending, stablecoin orders are growing rapidly. On the Travala platform, approximately 77% of orders are paid with cryptocurrencies, predominantly stablecoins.

Gaming Industry
Over 35% of gamers have used cryptocurrencies for purchases, with 70% of these transactions conducted in stablecoins. The blockchain gaming market is projected to reach $85 billion by the end of 2025, with stablecoins serving as a core tool for in-game purchases and rewards.

B2B Payments
Corporations are adopting stablecoins primarily for enhanced settlement efficiency and cost savings. Cross-border payment fees can be reduced to below 0.1%, significantly lower than the 2%-5% charged by traditional banks.

Neobank Case Study
Digital banks like Rizon, through Visa card integrations, enable users to spend stablecoins directly at over 100 million merchants worldwide. According to CoinGate, under the influence of Europe's MiCA regulations, USDC payment volume surged by 760% year-over-year, making it the preferred choice for merchant settlements.

Although the everyday use of stablecoins is still in its early stages, improving infrastructure and regulatory clarity are accelerating their adoption, particularly in regions with strong demand for cross-border payments and financial inclusion.

Summary
By 2025, spending stablecoins on daily consumption is no longer a romantic notion of "global financial democratization and inclusion" but a tangible reality. While the broader crypto market fluctuates between bull cycles and regulatory adjustments, with most activity centered on capital flows, remittances, and DeFi infrastructure, stablecoins have carved out a durable niche: they are being used for payments and consumption, not just storage or trading.

However, a closer look reveals that less than 10% of this activity is linked to actual spending—purchasing goods and services. Yet, this seemingly modest 10% is expanding visibly, quietly rewriting the rules in the crevices of daily life. From street vendors to cross-border worker remittances, stablecoins are no longer just toys for "crypto geeks" but tangible payment options in consumers' pockets. Businesses are taking notice, with capital and products aligning around this emerging trend.

Consumer use of stablecoins for daily expenses resembles a bottom-up spark. Whether this spark ignites a wildfire depends on who seizes the opportunity first, igniting subsequent demand. To this end, we compiled "Where are stablecoins being spent?" and incorporated firsthand observations to pinpoint that initial glow and outline the trajectory it is poised to illuminate.

I. Consumer Market Overview
In the B2B corporate payment space, stablecoins have gained significant traction. Companies in logistics, software, and financial services are using stablecoins for cross-border supplier payments, contractor payroll, and treasury operations. The stablecoin B2B economy is estimated to be running at an annualized rate of $36 billion, with momentum accelerating as regulatory clarity improves in key markets like the U.S. (GENIUS Act), EU (MiCA), and Hong Kong.

In the B2C consumer spending arena, growth is slower but positive. Over 25,000 merchants globally accept stablecoins for e-commerce transactions, and point-of-sale (POS) pilot projects are underway in parts of Southeast Asia and Latin America.

Early adopter industries for stablecoin spending include digital commerce, travel, hospitality, and gaming.

Payment infrastructure providers are driving the use of stablecoins in everyday contexts, enabling users to spend USDC, USDT, and other tokens without relying on native crypto applications. In 2025, Blue Origin began accepting debit cards linked to stablecoins for space flight reservations. Uber is reportedly piloting cryptocurrency payments to drivers in Latin America. Web3-native gaming platforms use stablecoins for in-game purchases, enabling chargeback-free microtransactions and fast settlements for global users.

Despite these advancements, retail transactions still account for less than 5% of global stablecoin usage, highlighting a significant gap between infrastructure availability and consumer behavior.

For institutions, the conclusion is clear: everyday spending with stablecoins is a reality, but its distribution is highly uneven.

Geographically, emerging markets lead in practical application. In Latin America, stablecoins are increasingly used at pharmacies, cafes, and local merchants, often as a hedge against inflation or an alternative to traditional banking services. In Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, stablecoins are used to access global goods and services otherwise unavailable due to fragmented payment channels.

B2B fund flows are growing the fastest, representing the most accessible opportunity for stablecoin infrastructure providers, exchanges, and fintech platforms. Retail and consumer adoption, though smaller in scale, is strategically significant, especially in regions where stablecoins genuinely address financial pain points.

Infrastructure is ready, and regulation is catching up. Today, competition hinges on distribution capabilities, user experience, and corporate partnerships. Stablecoins are no longer just "payment channels"; they are entering checkout processes and officially appearing on balance sheets.

II. The Consumer Economy of Stablecoins
The data tells a clear story: despite growing infrastructure maturity and expanding real-world use, the vast majority of stablecoin activity remains in financial applications—trading, liquidity provision, remittance channels. Only a small but increasingly meaningful portion truly touches the consumer economy, and corporate attention is shifting accordingly.

2.1 Stablecoin Usage Scenarios
Despite growing prominence, stablecoins are primarily financial tools. Approximately 67% of global usage is dominated by decentralized finance (DeFi), liquidity management, and speculative trading—these are not "daily consumption" activities but capital flows driven by efficiency and arbitrage. Another 15% of stablecoin circulation falls under "payment-like" cross-border remittances, rarely entering formal commercial channels like point-of-sale or invoice settlements.

Only about 5% of global stablecoin volume is used directly at merchants—whether in physical retail, e-commerce, or service industries like hospitality and gaming. This figure, derived from merchant processor data and on-chain analysis, highlights that stablecoins are still nascent in consumption scenarios but have grown significantly compared to previous years and continue to rise quarterly. The remaining 10% is used for inflation hedging and stable value storage.

2.2 Consumption Patterns: Behavior, Timing, and Incentives
Where stablecoin payments do occur in retail, the data reveals clear trends.

Transaction amounts tend to be slightly higher than local fiat payments, partly because consumers perceive stablecoins as "more valuable and stable than local currency." In grocery stores and pharmacies, bulk purchases or stockpiling are common. Temporal patterns also show unique rhythms: in urban areas, stablecoin transactions peak on weekday mornings and evenings, coinciding with commutes and lunch breaks; weekend usage dips slightly, possibly because leisure spending relies more on cash or mobile banking. Incentive programs are becoming key for retention. Many merchants in Latin America and Eastern Europe offer around 1% cashback for stablecoin spending, combined with gamified points in wallets, particularly appealing to younger demographics who already hold crypto assets and value real-time rewards. Interestingly, some merchants report that stablecoin users are more willing to pay tips, especially in service industries like food and beauty. This may reflect a psychological disconnect from the spending context or a desire to "support" merchants who accept crypto.

Another characteristic of cryptocurrency payments is higher spending. According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), by 2024, the average cryptocurrency payment amount is projected to be 30% higher than traditional payment methods. Travel and hospitality account for 14% of these crypto transactions. Airline bookings accepting cryptocurrency have grown by 40%.

Travala processed over $100 million in booking revenue last year, $80 million of which was in cryptocurrency, an 80% year-over-year increase. It notes that crypto users spend 2.5 times more per booking than non-crypto users and have three times the lifetime value. Accepting cryptocurrency allows travel providers to attract both a growing mass market and ultra-high-end spenders, resembling a "crypto wealth effect" where users benefiting from crypto gains are more willing to spend.

In this regard, cryptocurrency is thriving in two areas: first, in developing markets with high inflation, where many unbanked consumers are booking budget travel; second, among elite crypto holders booking luxury experiences.

2.3 How Can Stablecoins Achieve Mass Adoption in Everyday Spending?
The integration of stablecoin payments into retail POS systems remains fragmented. Although both are called stablecoin acceptance, current market implementations primarily fall into two categories:

A. Independent Wallet Integration—Direct connection to USDC, USDT, or regional stablecoin wallets via QR code payment systems. This approach typically requires no new hardware and can go live within days, making it attractive to small merchants.

This model does not alter the merchant's QR code receipt system; merchants still receive fiat, while the stablecoin conversion occurs on the wallet/acquirer side. The obvious advantage is seamless integration into existing global fiat QR code systems, eliminating the barrier of promoting stablecoin acceptance on the merchant side. This is why we see seamless integration of crypto wallets in regions with unified QR codes (e.g., Vietnam, Brazil).

Fund Flow: User pays in stablecoin → wallet/service provider converts to fiat → settlement with merchant in fiat.

B. Gateway and POS Direct Stablecoin Acceptance
Gateways and POS systems integrate stablecoins into platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento via plugins and APIs, allowing merchants to accept token payments without overhauling their checkout process. This approach requires strong market influence and is typically led by large companies directly integrating stablecoins into gateways and POS systems. The obvious advantage is control over merchant-side resources.

Large retailers, especially those with existing payment infrastructure, are beginning to partner with native cryptocurrency payment processors. Companies like BitPay, Flexa, Coingate, Circle Pay, and NowPayments offer APIs and merchant backends that facilitate stablecoin acceptance and fiat settlement. For example, a merchant can accept USDC at the checkout and receive USD or EUR at the end of the day, completely avoiding volatility risk. Additionally, several next-gen POS providers are launching hybrid terminals that support both traditional card swipes and digital assets, with early deployments in markets like Brazil, Turkey, and Kenya.

Fund Flow: User pays in stablecoin → merchant (via payment service provider's dual-wallet account) can choose to receive stablecoins or fiat.

Examples of POS providers:

• Brazil: Cielo (integrated Binance Pay)

• Turkey: PayTR (supports via NOWPayments); Paribu (local crypto exchange)

• Kenya: M-Pesa (integrated BitPay); Kopo Kopo (integrated CoinPayments)

The key to driving adoption lies not only in customer experience but also in user guidance, especially for those unfamiliar with crypto wallet operations. Some merchants are posting educational prompts in-store or training staff, while others are experimenting with incentive mechanisms to attract customers. On the backend, merchants still face challenges with receipt generation, accounting system integration, and tax documentation, which often become bottlenecks for more established businesses adopting stablecoin payments.

2.4 Payment Infrastructure and Routing Mechanisms
Underpinning this shift is increasingly mature stablecoin payment infrastructure. Two main technical paths are emerging:

• Stablecoin Settlement Model: Stablecoins like USDC are directly deposited into crypto wallets.

• Hybrid Routing Model: Stablecoins are automatically converted to fiat at the moment of payment, ensuring predictable revenue and shielding merchants from volatility risk.

Fintech providers specializing in crypto checkout are expanding rapidly; card-issuing platform Rizon has launched a stablecoin-backed Visa card usable at over 150 million merchants in 90+ countries, supporting Apple Pay, Google Pay, and the Visa network. Meanwhile, Fiserv has partnered with Mastercard to issue the FIUSD stablecoin, planning to enable small banks and their merchants to access stablecoin rails in real-time.

E-commerce merchants are gaining tangible benefits from stablecoin integration, with key advantages including:

• Recurring Charges & Subscriptions: Leveraging instant, programmable payments to avoid card network chargebacks and delays.

• Smoother Cross-Border Shopping: Stablecoins bypass traditional channels' forex fees, conversion delays, and counterparty risks.

• Final and Irrevocable Payments: Significantly reducing fraud and operational burdens from chargebacks and disputes.

Data confirms this trend. A Fireblocks survey shows that 48% of enterprises cite "settlement efficiency" as the top reason for adopting stablecoins, 30% prioritize "cost savings," and over 86% believe "infrastructure is ready for immediate deployment." The results are faster customer experiences, lower operational risks, broader global payment reach, and transparent, traceable transactions at the ledger level.

III. Stablecoin Adoption Across Industries
In 2024, according to Visa's Allium data, stablecoins facilitated $27.6 trillion in transaction value across 5.6 billion on-chain transfers. However, excluding speculative and DeFi flows, only 5% (approximately $1.3 trillion) constituted real-world payments, with P2P at 2%, B2C retail at 2%, and B2B commerce at 2%.

McKinsey reports that annual stablecoin transaction volume has exceeded $27 trillion, with payment-related daily throughput estimated at $20–30 billion, still less than 1% of global fund transfers. B2B flows, while operationally significant, amount to only about $400–500 billion annually, on par with broader merchant and institutional usage.

3.1 Physical Retail: The Earliest Emerging Vertical
Currently, stablecoin usage in physical retail remains limited, but early adopters have demonstrated that real-world usability not only exists but is becoming increasingly practical. Although adoption lags behind e-commerce and B2B sectors, 2025 has seen a noticeable increase in acceptance among small and medium-sized merchants—particularly in emerging markets and crypto-friendly urban centers.

Among the brick-and-mortar segments willing to experiment, several stand out. Supermarkets and grocery chains are among the most pragmatic use cases, especially in economies with volatile local currencies. In Argentina and Venezuela, where persistent inflation erodes purchasing power, many grocery stores now accept USDC and USDT directly at checkout, with customers often using mobile wallets or QR codes. Specific examples include:

• Buenos Aires Central Market: Tether's partnership with KriptonMarket enables merchants in this large wholesale and retail produce market to settle in USDT.

• Grocery stores in Buenos Aires' Villa Crespo district: Integrated Binance Pay to accept USDT via QR codes, driven by shortages of physical U.S. dollars.

Food and beverage venues are also embracing stablecoins, particularly cafes, fast-casual restaurants, and food trucks. In El Salvador, while Bitcoin initially grabbed headlines, stablecoins have quietly become the preferred digital payment method for urban residents. Partial examples:

• McDonald's – supports USDT, USDC (via Strike, Bitfinex)

• Starbucks – supports USDT, USDC (via Chivo, Strike)

• Wendy's – supports USDT, USDC (via payment processors)

• Subway – supports USDT, USDC (via Strike, CoinGate)

• Local restaurants in El Zonte ("Bitcoin Beach")

• Juice bars and stalls in San Salvador and La Libertad

3.2 Retail and E-commerce Adoption Status
Merchant acceptance of stablecoins is rising but highly uneven. As of mid-2025, over 25,000 merchants globally support stablecoins, primarily online, with some penetration into physical stores. The most common assets are USDC, USDT, and PYUSD, typically integrated via native crypto checkout processors or stablecoin-linked Visa/Mastercard channels.

In terms of merchant and user penetration, institutional adoption rates continue to climb. NOWPayments notes that stablecoins now constitute 57% of all merchant crypto payments, far exceeding the 7% in 2020. The global retail channel of over 25,000 merchants highlights deepening B2C penetration in e-commerce and digital platforms. User engagement is also expanding: over 150 million blockchain addresses hold stablecoins, with approximately 10 million addresses transacting daily, indicating broad and active usage. Notably, consumer demand is strongest in emerging markets like Latin America and Africa, where institutional stablecoin payment volumes have grown over 200% year-over-year.

According to Visa's blockchain analytics unit, the majority of on-chain stablecoin flows still consist of high-value B2B transfers rather than low-value spending in shopping carts or restaurant bills. For stablecoins to achieve substantial adoption at the point of sale, infrastructure must continue improving, particularly in payment user experience, instant fiat conversion, tax reporting, and merchant incentives.

New use cases are emerging, with some platforms offering cashback rewards to encourage customers to choose stablecoins at checkout, with fees lower than traditional bank cards. In some markets, merchants benefit directly from near-zero processing costs for accepting stablecoins, compared to the 2%–4% fees of traditional payment networks.

3.3 Travel and Hospitality: Early Experiments, Growing Momentum
Consumer-facing travel, hospitality, and digital entertainment spending remain limited, but the industry is actively experimenting with stablecoin payments at a strategic level. However, these use cases are still considered niche, driven more by crypto-native demographics than mainstream demand.

A recent tourism analysis, "The Rise of Cryptocurrency in Travel," notes that while cryptocurrencies currently account for less than 1% of leisure travel spending, this could rise to 3%–5% by 2030. With advantages in price predictability and settlement efficiency, stablecoins are seen as leading this shift.

Cryptorefills reports that in 2024, over 80% of its users made at least one cryptocurrency purchase monthly. Travel is one of its fastest-growing segments, driven largely by digital nomads and conference travelers who also use the platform for eSIMs, travel bookings, and top-ups. Cryptorefills is a B2C platform offering cryptocurrency flight and hotel bookings.

Crypto-focused online travel agency (OTA) Travala reports, "Our largest customer base currently consists of digital nomads and conference travelers, with bookings typically targeting mid-range clients. In 2024, about 78% of bookings were completed with cryptocurrency, compared to less than 8% with credit and debit cards." Cryptocurrency also attracts high-net-worth individuals. "The luxury market holds immense potential." Travala's concierge service targets this segment, offering personalized high-end travel advisors.

More symbolically, in the UAE—where luxury experiences meet regulatory innovation—43% of five-star hotels now accept crypto payments. The purely digital travel platform Travala shows an even more aggressive usage curve: in September 2024, 77% of orders were paid with cryptocurrency, predominantly stablecoins.

These figures mark an inflection point: boutique resorts and forward-thinking chains offer stablecoin options not as a gimmick but for competitive differentiation and global appeal. In the broader travel ecosystem, stablecoins are becoming "full-experience payment" tools:

• From June 2024 to June 2025, crypto payments in travel surged 38% year-over-year, with over 40% conducted in stablecoins.

• Stablecoins are used to book rooms, flights, spas, and transfers, with average transaction values 2.5 times higher than traditional fiat bookings, indicating high-spending characteristics.

These numbers suggest consumers increasingly view stablecoins as a trustworthy medium of exchange, not just for simple bookings but for carefully curated full travel experiences and services.

3.4 The Gaming Industry
In contrast, the gaming industry is proving to be increasingly fertile ground for stablecoin spending. Numerous Web3-native games and virtual environments now accept stablecoins for in-game purchases, NFT transactions, and peer-to-peer settlements among players.

For example, Fortnite, developed by Epic Games, is a centralized non-Web3 game, but certain third-party payment solutions have enabled stablecoin-based transactions, allowing players to use stablecoins like USDC to purchase in-game currency (e.g., V-Bucks). Payment platforms like TransFi have been integrated into the game ecosystem, providing players with such stablecoin payment channels.

Globally, over 35% of gamers have used cryptocurrency for at least one purchase, whether for items, tournament fees, or subscriptions; a striking 70% of these transactions use stablecoins. Blockchain gaming is exploding overall: driven by a 52% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), the global blockchain gaming market is projected to reach $85 billion by the end of 2025.

"Play-to-earn" (P2E) games use stablecoins to distribute rewards, contributing 62% of this market's revenue. At the platform level, 93% of blockchain games have integrated wallet support (e.g., MetaMask, Phantom), and 37% incorporate metaverse elements, creating more spending scenarios for character skins, upgrades, and social interactions.

Similarly, market valuations underscore the scale: tokenized real estate on metaverse platforms now exceeds $112 billion.

Beyond gaming itself, stablecoins are at the heart of high-value virtual goods economies. The metaverse market reached a total value of $316 billion in 2025, with $88 billion in digital goods flow facilitated by stablecoins. Transactions in virtual real estate, avatars, and tokenized assets are expanding rapidly: leading metaverse platform Decentraland generated over $275 million in revenue in 2025 solely from virtual land and digital asset trades, mostly settled in stablecoins.

Underpinning this value is a surge in user base: 70 million monthly users engage with metaverse financial services, with $2.2 billion in daily transaction volume flowing through these virtual settlement systems. With value stability and fast settlements, stablecoins are a natural choice for high-frequency transactions in immersive economies.

By 2025, gaming and entertainment ecosystems have adopted stablecoins as a primary medium of exchange, significantly accelerating in-game economies, virtual experiences, and hybrid scenarios blending with the real world.

3.5 Corporate B2B Payments
A. Cost Reduction and Efficiency Gains

For corporations, efficiency, not just cost, remains the primary consideration. Fireblocks research shows 48% of enterprises rank settlement efficiency as the top benefit of stablecoins, 30% mention cost savings, and 86% claim existing infrastructure is ready for deployment. Operational efficiency improvements are equally notable: a 2025 analysis shows stablecoin settlement systems have compressed remittance and settlement fees to about 2.5%, compared to up to 5% for traditional bank channels.

Cryptocurrencies enable direct, bank-free transactions, reducing costs and improving margins. Travala estimates that the travel industry processes over $11 trillion annually; if blockchain-based solutions reduced fees to 0.1%, $270 billion could be saved yearly. "The advantages are significant: using stablecoins on high-speed networks costs less than a cent in fees, confirmation is nearly instant, there are no chargebacks, and settlement operates 24/7."

B2B transactions also benefit, enabling real-time settlement, eliminating currency exchange risk, and reducing prepayment requirements. But not all crypto solutions are equal.

Future Adoption Trajectory:

• Merchant penetration accelerating – over 57% of crypto merchant payments are now settled in stablecoins.

• User activity broadening – millions of active wallets and transactions daily.

• Operational Benefits: Settlement speed prioritized over cost savings; infrastructure readiness and regulatory coordination rapidly reducing friction; lower costs and transparency making stablecoins an efficient alternative for cross-border and digital commerce.

B. Payment Adoption Scenarios

a. Stablecoins for Supplier, Vendor, and Payroll Payments

According to PYMNTS, B2B stablecoin transaction volume has reached $36 billion annually, making it the largest segment of practical stablecoin use, surpassing P2P and card-linked payments. Artemis Analytics supports this ranking, estimating B2B stablecoin payments account for 50% of total payment volume. Demand is driven by global manufacturing firms, logistics providers, and service companies increasingly using stablecoins to settle cross-border supplier invoices, pay overseas contractors, and streamline payroll.

b. Partnerships and Custody Solutions: Enterprise-Grade Infrastructure

Mastercard is integrating the FIUSD stablecoin into its payment ecosystem, enabling usage across its network of over 150 million merchants and businesses. Meanwhile, Fiserv plans to launch a stablecoin-powered digital asset banking platform, broadly supported by Circle, Paxos, and Solana, bringing regional and community banks into the stablecoin payment system. Major banks like Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Standard Chartered, PayPal, and Stripe are actively developing stablecoin issuance and integration strategies targeting B2B and trade corridors. Enterprise and fintech wallets, SAFE tools, and treasury management systems are now natively designed or upgraded to handle stablecoin flows, enabling corporations to move funds with programmable precision, built-in compliance, and legacy system integration.

The core value proposition centers on instant settlement, avoidance of exchange rate volatility, and near-zero friction channels, particularly benefiting traditionally underserved markets.

c. Liquidity and Cash Management: Internal Corporate Fund Transfers

Large corporations and treasury departments are using stablecoins as programmable liquidity tools. JPMorgan's digital dollar and euro tokens now handle over $1 billion in institutional flow daily, indicating deep integration into automated treasury operations. This expanding scale uses stablecoins as real-time fund conduits, enabling instant internal transfers, automated cash pooling across jurisdictions, and seamless movement between fiat and on-chain digital assets via custodial platforms.

"Neobanks defined what digital banking should look like but never touched the core infrastructure. Stablecoins are that upgrade. Combined, they unlock everything digital banking was supposed to be: instant transfers, low remittance costs, access to global stable currencies." — RIZON

IV. The Rise of Neobanks
With digital-first infrastructure, user-friendly interfaces, and global accessibility, neobanks have become bridges between traditional finance and the crypto-native economy. Rizon's analysis highlights their potential: by 2025, with increasing regulatory clarity and growing user demand for borderless money, neobanks are uniquely positioned to integrate stablecoins into everyday banking experiences—from payroll to payments and savings.

In 2025, global neobank users surpassed 600 million, up from 394 million in 2023, representing a compound annual growth rate of over 30% in recent years.

Giants are taking action. Revolut and N26 are expanding crypto services to include stablecoin transfers and payments; Monzo and Wise are exploring instant, zero-forex cross-border remittances via regulated stablecoin channels. In emerging markets, neobanks like Nubank (Brazil) and Maya (Philippines) have piloted stablecoin-linked wallets for merchant payments and payroll. By embedding stablecoins into core products, neobanks are becoming the gateway for millions to "spend digital dollars, not just trade them."

4.1 Rizon's Neobank Case Study
Rizon is a next-generation non-custodial stablecoin application launched in 2025, aiming to make "digital dollars" truly usable. Operating in 110+ countries, users can deposit, transfer, spend, invest, and receive stablecoins like USDC and USDT at low cost, near real-time. Through virtual and physical Visa cards, users can spend stablecoins at over 100 million merchants and ATMs globally, covering all traditional card-present scenarios.

The non-custodial architecture ensures users fully control their funds and private keys. Rizon already supports tokenized stock trading, 5% spending cashback, and the RizPoints loyalty program, redeemable for flights, hotels, and gift cards. Rizon's mission is simple: make stablecoins a practical alternative to outdated banking systems. Rizon is not just a crypto wallet but a modern financial gateway, enabling global users to access secure, stable, intelligent cross-border financial tools anytime, anywhere.

As the first neobank to fully integrate stablecoin accounts, cards, and APIs into its financial stack, Rizon allows users and businesses to hold, spend, and settle stablecoins as easily as fiat. Through direct integration with Visa, Rizon supports spending stablecoins at over 150 million merchants worldwide, eliminating conversion friction and unlocking real-world utility. With its non-custodial model, anyone with a smartphone and internet connection can participate globally.

Rizon's analysis highlights its potential: with global remittances projected to reach $913 billion by 2025, stablecoins could save $39 billion annually in remittance fees, becoming a key enabler for everyday cross-border payments.

"The nature of money is changing. While the internet has transformed how we work, communicate, and shop, our financial system remains behind: slow, expensive, and inaccessible to billions.

Stablecoins represent a breakthrough: they are digital dollars backed 1:1 by real reserves, enabling instant, borderless, 24/7 transactions without banks or intermediaries. This isn't just another crypto trend; it's a fundamental shift in how money moves. But for the average user, stablecoins remain too complex.

At Rizon, we are building the next layer for money: a simple, secure, and intuitive interface that makes stablecoins accessible to everyone. Just as neobanks did for fiat, we are doing the same for digital dollars—creating financial tools that are inherently global, fair by default, and built for those who need them most." — Ignas Survila, CEO & Co-founder @ RIZON

4.2 CoinGate's Stablecoin Payment Services
CoinGate, a fintech and crypto payment company founded in 2014 and headquartered in Lithuania, specializes in cryptocurrency payment processing and gateway services. Its platform helps merchants accept Bitcoin, stablecoins, and other digital assets, offering fiat conversion services to hedge against volatility. Businesses can integrate CoinGate via API and major e-commerce plugins, seamlessly accessing crypto payments globally.

The company also supports crypto payouts, invoicing, and treasury management features, accompanied by KYC/AML compliance mechanisms. CoinGate serves thousands of merchants, processing hundreds of thousands of crypto transactions annually, aiming to bridge traditional commerce and blockchain payments.

Since 2025, stablecoins remain the backbone of crypto payments on CoinGate's platform, but their share has shifted under regulatory influence. As of this quarter, 31.3% of processed payments are settled in stablecoins. USDT remains the second most frequently used asset, accounting for 19.8% of all transactions, though this data primarily reflects Q1 activity (before MiCA regulation took effect); subsequently, the platform delisted USDT per regulatory requirements. Meanwhile, USDC's transaction share has risen to 11.5%, ranking fourth. By value, stablecoins are even more dominant, accounting for nearly half of total transaction volume.

The larger narrative is how MiCA is redrawing the market landscape. Due to non-compliance with MiCA's stablecoin requirements, USDT has been effectively delisted from numerous regulated platforms within the EU and European Economic Area. Tether has explicitly stated it will not seek compliance, severely limiting its usability in regulated markets. Thus, the decline in USDT usage on the platform is not due to reduced demand but direct regulatory restrictions curbing its circulation. Conversely, USDC, being MiCA-compliant and supporting multiple public chains, has experienced explosive growth: USDC payment volume on CoinGate surged 760% year-over-year; from January to September 2025 alone, usage grew over sixfold. The observed effect is clearly "substitution"—European merchants and consumers who previously used USDT are collectively migrating to USDC.

Regionally, the U.S. remains the largest single market for stablecoin payments at 15%, but if Europe is considered as a whole, it leads globally with 37% of order share. Asia follows at 30%, driven mainly by India and Hong Kong; in Africa, Nigeria is the most prominent market.

In terms of use cases, stablecoins are most concentrated in digital-native industries like adult content, proxy services, and web hosting; meanwhile, gaming, gift cards, and consumer e-commerce show steady growth.

On the payout side, the shift is more pronounced: in 2025, 85% of merchant settlements on CoinGate were chosen to be disbursed in stablecoins. This indicates that for businesses, stablecoins are no longer just another payment option but the preferred settlement layer for cross-border settlements, remittances, and B2B fund flows.

Collectively, the data clearly shows: regulation has become a major force shaping stablecoin adoption. The MiCA regulation in Europe created a "natural experiment": in regulated environments, USDT's share is collapsing, while USDC is rapidly becoming the stablecoin of choice for both consumers and merchants.

V. Conclusion
By 2025, stablecoins are no longer theoretical tools; they are being spent, settled, and scaled in the real economy. From institutional liquidity pipelines to retail checkouts, stablecoins are quietly yet decisively changing how value flows. Although only about 5% of annual transaction volume (approximately $1.3 trillion) is linked to actual goods and services payments, this small portion represents the fastest-growing category in on-chain value transfer. In B2B, e-commerce, hospitality, gaming, and P2P, stablecoin spending is moving from the fringe to a mainstream function.