Standard Chartered: Stablecoin Market Could Reach $2 Trillion by 2030

Standard Chartered has revised its long-term stablecoin market forecast, pushing back its projection for the sector to reach $2 trillion in market capitalization to 2030, two years later than previously anticipated.

Despite the slower growth in stablecoin supply, the bank reported that transaction activity continues to increase, suggesting that existing tokens are being used more frequently across different financial applications. In a report, Standard Chartered noted that the stablecoin market has remained relatively unchanged at approximately $309 billion in 2026, even as adoption and transaction volumes continue to expand.

Standard Chartered sees rising stablecoin usage despite slower market growth

Geoffrey Kendrick, Standard Chartered's head of digital assets research, explained that stablecoin adoption is increasingly being driven by greater circulation rather than the issuance of additional tokens. As stablecoins become more widely used for payments, cryptocurrency trading and other financial activities, the same supply of tokens can support a growing number of transactions.

Kendrick identified four major stablecoin market segments, each characterized by different competitive conditions and leading issuers. Tether's USDT maintains a dominant position in emerging-market savings, where stablecoins provide access to dollar-denominated assets. Circle's USDC, meanwhile, leads the developed-market payments segment, while both USDC and Ethena's USDe have established significant positions in cryptocurrency trading.

USDC also holds a leading position in the smaller but emerging market for transactions conducted between artificial intelligence agents. These distinctions suggest that stablecoin competition is becoming increasingly specialized, with different tokens gaining adoption based on their intended applications.

Competition intensifies in developed-market stablecoin payments

Standard Chartered expects the strongest competitive pressure to emerge in the developed-market payments sector. Newer stablecoin projects and payment infrastructure providers, including USDG, M^0 and multibank stablecoin networks, are developing alternatives to established payment systems.

These initiatives aim to compete with existing stablecoin providers by offering different approaches to payment processing, settlement and financial infrastructure. According to Kendrick, one of the most important factors determining future market share could be how stablecoin issuers and payment networks distribute the yield generated by their reserve assets.

The allocation of reserve income could influence the economics of stablecoin payment services and determine which providers are best positioned to attract institutional and commercial users. As competition develops, the bank expects stablecoin adoption to depend increasingly on practical applications and the financial incentives offered by competing networks.

US stablecoin regulations and accounting rules could influence adoption

Standard Chartered's revised outlook comes as the United States continues developing its regulatory framework for stablecoins following the passage of the GENIUS Act in 2025. Since the legislation was enacted, US regulators have proposed additional requirements covering stablecoin issuance, reserve management and consumer protection.

Some proposals have also clarified the limitations of existing protections for stablecoin holders. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), for example, proposed rules that would exclude stablecoin holders from pass-through deposit insurance coverage. Meanwhile, the US Treasury Department has continued implementing the GENIUS Act, proposing regulations in August that would restrict stablecoin issuance in the United States to entities authorized at the federal or state level. The proposed licensing requirements are expected to take effect in January 2027.

Accounting standards could also play an important role in determining how businesses adopt stablecoins. In August, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) proposed changes that could affect how certain stablecoins are classified and reported on corporate balance sheets.

Blockchain payments company Tempo suggested that the proposed accounting framework could make stablecoins easier for businesses to use in payments and settlement activities by reducing associated accounting complexities. Together, these regulatory and accounting developments could influence the next phase of stablecoin adoption, particularly among financial institutions and businesses considering digital assets for everyday transactions.

Although Standard Chartered has delayed its forecast for the stablecoin market to reach $2 trillion, its analysis indicates that growing transaction activity and increasingly diverse use cases remain important drivers of the sector's long-term development.

Sources:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/standard-chartered-stablecoin-forecast-2030-market-growth

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0605/