There was no speculative mania, no viral charts, no sudden “crypto is back” moment. Instead, the shift happened quietly, through infrastructure. According to a16z’s latest State of Crypto report, stablecoins processed $9 trillion in transaction volume in the last 12 months, a number that fundamentally changes how we should think about crypto’s real-world impact. For perspective, PayPal processed roughly $1.7 trillion in the same period, while Visa processed about $16 trillion. Stablecoins now...

There was no speculative mania, no viral charts, no sudden “crypto is back” moment. Instead, the shift happened quietly, through infrastructure. According to a16z’s latest State of Crypto report, stablecoins processed $9 trillion in transaction volume in the last 12 months, a number that fundamentally changes how we should think about crypto’s real-world impact. For perspective, PayPal processed roughly $1.7 trillion in the same period, while Visa processed about $16 trillion. Stablecoins now...