Stablecoins Move More Than $400 Million an Hour, With 73% Sent Outside U.S. Banking Hours

Stablecoins are transferring more than $400 million on average every hour, with most of that activity taking place outside U.S. bank operating hours, according to a new report.

Crypto media outlet The Block reported on October 20 that a joint study by Coinbase and The Block Pro Research, titled “The Always-On Dollar,” found effective stablecoin transfer volume topped an average of $400 million per hour in the third quarter of this year.

About 73% of stablecoin transfers analyzed over the 12 months through July 31 occurred outside U.S. banking hours. The report said that reflects demand for 24-hour payments and remittances, which stablecoins can provide unlike the traditional financial system.

For businesses, that can shorten settlement times and improve the use of working capital. It also reduces the need to keep funds parked in separate accounts in advance for transfers, leaving more cash available for operations or investment.

The report also found that remittance costs for individual users were much lower. Sending $200 in USDC on the Base network was about 86% cheaper than using traditional remittance rails.

Transfer volumes are also rising quickly as stablecoin adoption expands. Adjusted stablecoin transaction volume has increased about fourfold since early 2023, reaching $891 billion in the third quarter of this year. If that pace continues, quarterly transfer volume could reach $1.5 trillion by the end of 2027.

The report also said that if 80% of cross-border transactions shift to stablecoin-based payment networks, the global economy could see an additional $155 billion in annual output.

The number of blockchain addresses holding stablecoins currently stands at about 293 million, the report found. Still, that figure should not be treated as a user count because one person can control multiple addresses.

Large U.S. banks are also expanding related experiments. Seven of the 10 biggest U.S. banks have already tested stablecoins or tokenized deposits for payments and settlement, while the other three have also disclosed related plans.

The report added that stablecoins could also become a core payment tool for transactions between artificial intelligence agents. They are well suited for round-the-clock automated payments when AI agents pay one another for work or make small purchases such as API calls, data and computing resources.