Stablecoin transfer volumes on Ethereum climbed past $8 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2025, setting a new record, according to data released by Token Terminal on Monday. The figure represents nearly twice the volume recorded in the second quarter, when transfers totaled just over $4 trillion. At the same time, stablecoin issuance on Ethereum expanded significantly, rising about 43% over the course of 2025 from $127 billion to $181 billion by year-end, based on figures from BlockWorks.

“This isn’t speculation. This is global payments happening on-chain,” commented “BMNR Bullz” on X. “This is before SWIFT-style integrations, full RWA tokenization, and institutional rails going live. “The rails are already built. Adoption is catching up,” they added.

 

Network usage accelerates alongside volumes

The surge in stablecoin transfers coincided with a peak in overall Ethereum network activity. Total daily transactions reached an all-time high of 2.23 million in late December, according to Etherscan, putting daily transaction counts roughly 48% higher than a year earlier. Token Terminal also reported that monthly active addresses on Ethereum climbed to a record 10.4 million in December.

Daily participation increased as well, with the number of unique addresses acting as senders or receivers surpassing one million toward the end of the month, signaling broader engagement across the network.

 

Ethereum maintains lead in stablecoins and RWAs

Ethereum continues to dominate as the main settlement layer for stablecoins and real-world asset tokenization. Data from RWA.xyz shows the network accounts for about 65% of total on-chain RWA value, or roughly $19 billion, with its share rising above 70% when layer-2 and other EVM-compatible networks are included.

In the stablecoin market, Ethereum hosts around 57% of all issued supply, followed by Tron with a 27% share. Tether’s USDT remains the largest stablecoin by issuance at $187 billion, representing about 60% of the total market, with more than half of that supply issued on Ethereum.

Sources:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/stablecoin-transfer-volume-ethereum-tops-8t-q4-ath

https://tokenterminal.com/explorer/projects/ethereum?interval=max

https://blockworks.com/analytics/ethereum/ethereum-stablecoins

https://x.com/tokenterminal/status/2007923331526459855

https://x.com/BMNRBullz/status/2007988977639342278

https://etherscan.io/chart/tx