Last year, stablecoin supply passed $300 billion and on-chain volume approached $46 trillion. Behind those numbers, user behavior shifted considerably: People aren’t just parking funds in stablecoins anymore. They’re spending them, swapping through them, and increasingly treating them as the default balance in their wallets.
To make sense of what’s driving this change, we’ve pulled together what we’re seeing from the Changelly app and website and a recent survey to map out where this goes next. And on May 15, we’ll host a podcast and open talk to discuss what all of this means for businesses thinking about stablecoin infrastructure.
How We Looked at the Data
Changelly composed the report on stablecoins based on the industry-wide trends in 2025. Moreover, Changelly and Simple conducted a survey on consumer card usage and spending data among 3000+ users that also demonstrates key shifts in stablecoin perception.
Five Stablecoin Trends for 2026
1. Stablecoins are now essential, not optional.
Stablecoins were involved in 23.78% of completed transactions on our platform last year, and those transactions were roughly 5x larger than non-stablecoin ones, meaning people are using them for meaningful transfers. Expect stablecoins to settle in as the default wallet balance across more fintech products.
2. Stablecoins moved from safe haven to active layer.
The old story was that users fled to stablecoins in downturns and waited. The current trends don’t back that up anymore. Swap participation involving stablecoins grew 33% year-over-year, and flows between crypto and stablecoins are almost perfectly balanced. Users are circulating through stablecoins, not hiding in them. This is much closer to how institutions already operate.
3. Everyday spending is where the breakthrough actually occurred.
Of the users we surveyed, 60.6% already spend via crypto cards. Average transaction size sits around €40, and 60–70% of spending goes to groceries, transport, and other routine categories. These are everyday categories and everyday amounts—the infrastructure just happens to be crypto.
4. The barrier is no longer technical.
Among current crypto card users, 59% report no technical issues. Among non-users, 58% point to lack of understanding as the main reason they haven’t tried yet. That means the infrastructure has caught up. The gap now is onboarding and communication.
Open Talk: Stablecoin Infrastructure for Business
Changelly’s hosting a live session on YouTube on May 15, 2026 titled “The Rise of Stablecoins: Infrastructure Every Business Must Build”.
John Adam Khandjian (CGO at Changelly) will sit down with Alex Emelian (CEO & Co-Founder of Stablerail) to dig into:
- How stablecoins became the real onboarding layer into crypto
- Why holders turned into spenders
- Why product design and user understanding now drive adoption more than infrastructure does
The format is a 20-minute conversation followed by 40 minutes of live Q&A. If you want to attend and bring questions, sign up via the Google Form.
Disclaimer: Please note that the contents of this article are not financial or investing advice. The information provided in this article is the author’s opinion only and should not be considered as offering trading or investing recommendations. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability and accuracy of this information. The cryptocurrency market suffers from high volatility and occasional arbitrary movements. Any investor, trader, or regular crypto users should research multiple viewpoints and be familiar with all local regulations before committing to an investment.
