Stablecoin market cap fell $7.7B in June, the first monthly drop in four years, while adjusted transaction volume surged to $1.79T, Forbes reports. USDC volume topped USDT, signaling real-world payment use.
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The stablecoin market shrank by $7.7 billion in June, the first monthly decline in supply in four years, even as transaction volume hit a record $1.79 trillion, according to a Forbes report. The total market cap dropped about $10 billion from its May peak to $300 billion, the report said.
USDT supply fell from $190 billion to $184 billion. USDC supply dropped from $80 billion to $74 billion. The decline in supply, while significant, was far smaller than the collapse that followed Terra-Luna's implosion in 2022, Forbes noted.
What changed is the relationship between supply and usage. Stablecoins are no longer held mostly as collateral for trades. They are being used for payments, the report said.
The GENIUS Act, signed in July 2025, banned yield on payment stablecoins. That pushed capital into treasury tokens, which now manage nearly $16 billion in assets, Forbes reported.
The shift reshaped the competitive landscape. USDC recorded $18.3 trillion in adjusted transaction volume over the past year, surpassing USDT's $13.3 trillion, even though USDC has a smaller circulating supply. The report attributed the gap to business-to-business payments, payroll, remittances, and capital markets settlement.
Adjusted transaction volume strips out exchange shuffling and wash trading, giving a clearer picture of real economic use, Forbes said. Visa and Mastercard have both emphasized settlement-layer services as stablecoin adoption moves beyond trading. Crypto market analysis shows similar trends in tokenized assets.
The data, Forbes said, suggests stablecoins are maturing into a payment rail, not just a collateral tool. The changing dynamic reflects a broader shift from stablecoins as collateral to stablecoins as payment infrastructure.
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