Paybis data shows stablecoins hit 86% of transaction volume in April 2026, up from 12% in 2023. B2B transactions drive 97.8% of volume. Watch for regulatory clarity and reserve audits.
Stablecoins have crossed a measurable tipping point in corporate treasury operations. A report from Paybis released at Money20/20 Europe in Amsterdam shows that stablecoins accounted for 86% of the platform's total crypto transaction volume in April 2026, up from just 12% in July 2023. The growth is almost entirely B2B: 97.8% of stablecoin volume in the first four months of 2026 came from business clients, up from 96.9% in 2025.
The numbers reinforce a shift that many crypto analysts have predicted but few could quantify until now. Businesses are not just holding stablecoins. They are using them to settle cross-border invoices, manage working capital, and bypass traditional correspondent banking. The question for traders and risk managers is whether this adoption is structurally sound or whether it introduces new points of failure that regulators and counterparty defaults could exploit.
Paybis recorded total stablecoin volume of $2.81 billion in May 2026. Between January and April 2026, stablecoin activity on the platform grew 135% compared with the same period a year earlier. The report surveyed both platform data and external businesses: 22.5% of respondents either already use stablecoins for international payments or plan to adopt them within 12 months.
The numbers come from a single platform. Paybis processes a broad mix of retail and corporate flows across multiple stablecoins, including USDT and USDC. The concentration in B2B activity suggests that the retail trading narrative is giving way to enterprise payment use cases.
The typical B2B stablecoin payment replaces a SWIFT transfer that might take one to three business days. The sender buys stablecoins on a compliant on-ramp, transfers them to the recipient's wallet in minutes, and the recipient converts to local fiat via an off-ramp. The total fee is often below 1%, compared with SWIFT fees that can range from 1% to 3% plus foreign-exchange spreads.
Key insight: The speed advantage is real. The reliance on stablecoin liquidity and exchange availability creates execution risk that T+2 bank transfers do not have. A sudden depeg or exchange outage can freeze a payment mid-cycle.
Paybis data shows that B2B stablecoin transactions represented 96.9% of all stablecoin volume in 2025 and 97.8% in January through April 2026. Retail stablecoin usage, by contrast, is shrinking as a share of platform activity.
Digital Goods was the largest sector by B2B stablecoin volume since April 2024. Virtual Assets Businesses (other crypto firms), Technology companies, Retail and E-commerce, and Fintech providers rounded out the top five. Each of these sectors has recurring cross-border settlement needs, thin margins, and an existing comfort with digital infrastructure.
The common thread is that these businesses are already operating in a digital-first environment. They are less exposed to the regulatory friction that a traditional manufacturer might face.
The Paybis survey also uncovered a significant disconnect between user expectations and the actual mechanics of stablecoin transfers. More than half of respondents believed stablecoin settlements happen instantly. Others expected transfers to take up to a day. In practice, settlement times depend on the blockchain used (e.g., Ethereum, TRON, Solana) and the speed of the on-ramp or off-ramp provider.
Similarly, opinions on transaction fees varied widely, even though actual stablecoin transfer costs are almost always below 1%. The gap suggests that many businesses are still operating on assumptions rather than empirical data.
Practical rule: Until the infrastructure includes standardized settlement-time disclosures and fee transparency, the risk of a failed or delayed payment due to misinformation remains elevated. Traders should assume that any business using stablecoins for the first time will need a test period before scaling.
A large corporate using stablecoins is exposed to three counterparties: the stablecoin issuer (Tether, Circle, etc.), the exchange or broker handling the on- and off-ramp, and the specific blockchain that confirms the transaction. A freeze of a stablecoin issuer's reserves (as happened with USDC in March 2023 after Silicon Valley Bank collapsed) can lock up working capital. An exchange outage, as seen multiple times at major platforms, can delay settlement and trigger margin calls.
Paybis executives acknowledged during the conference that stablecoin adoption depends on improving the surrounding infrastructure. They pointed to three areas:
Risk to watch: The CLARITY Act in the U.S. was expected to provide regulatory clarity. The vote has slipped to August. If the bill stalls or gets watered down, the current wave of business adoption could slow as compliance costs rise. A clear regulatory framework would reduce the risk and make stablecoins more attractive to mainstream treasurers.
For traders, the stablecoin payments trend creates a cross-asset watchlist.
Goldman Sachs recently tokenized a real estate fund using Apex and Archax platforms. This signals that institutional stablecoin adoption is moving beyond simple payments into asset-backed tokens. Read more.
The bottom line for traders: the stablecoin B2B trend is real and quantifiable. The risk profile is different from traditional payments. The speed and cost advantages are genuine. They come with counterparty and infrastructural fragilities that bank transfers do not share. Watch for regulatory deadlines, reserve audits, and any sign that businesses are pulling back as the infrastructure matures.
Prepared with AlphaScala research tooling and grounded in primary market data: live prices, fundamentals, SEC filings, hedge-fund holdings, and insider activity. Each story is checked against AlphaScala publishing rules before release. Educational coverage, not personalized advice.