Adoption grows as more than $7T settled with stablecoins in 2022 News ▸ Tether ▸ Stablecoins
Adoption grows as more than $7T settled with stablecoins in 2022
The total value settled with stablecoins this year surpassed the settlement value at Mastercard, which processed around $2.2 trillion in value in 2022.
1 min read
Updated: Dec. 23, 2022 at 10:52 am UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
The ongoing bear market did little to curb the rising use of stablecoins. On the contrary, dollar-pegged coins like USDT and USDC saw a parabolic growth in market cap this year, becoming a defacto settlement currency of the crypto industry.
Following the collapse of Terra and its algorithmic stablecoin UST, the two stablecoin giants took over the majority of stablecoin volumes — and they show no sign of stopping.
According to data from CoinMetrics, over $7 trillion in value has been settled with stablecoins in 2022. This is a significant increase from the $6 trillion settled in 2021 and the $1 trillion settled the year before.
Some analysts predict that the value settled with stablecoins could reach as much as $9 trillion in 2023, second only to Visa, which processes around $12 trillion in value per year. Others believe their on-chain volume will surpass not only Visa but also the aggregate volume of all four major card networks — Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover.
However, even if the settlement value stays flat next year, it will surpass almost all the other large settlement providers individually — including Mastercard, American Express, and Discover.
Mastercard, the second-largest card issuer in the world, processed around $2.2 trillion in value so far in 2022, falling way behind the combined settlement value of the seven largest stablecoins. For example, American Express settled around $1 trillion in value this year, while Discover settled less than $200 billion in transactions.
Mentioned in this article
Author 
Andjela Radmilac
Armed with a classical education and an eye for news, Andjela dove head deep into the crypto industry in 2018 after spending years covering politics.
Latest Tether Stories
Featured Story
Advertise Here
In this article
Launched in 2014, Tether is a blockchain-enabled platform designed to facilitate the use of fiat currencies in a digital manner.
USD Coin
$1.00011
USD Coin (USDC) is a stablecoin fully backed by the US dollar and developed by the CENTRE consortium.
Visa
Visa is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Foster City, California, United States.
Mastercard
Mastercard is a leading global payments & technology company that connects consumers, businesses, merchants, and issuers and governments around the world.