Stablecoin settlements hit record $1.79T in June

Allium data shows adjusted stablecoin transaction volume reached $1.79 trillion in June, a 63% increase from May and a 125% rise year over year. The figure is the largest monthly volume in the dataset and arrived while the broader crypto market declined more than 18% for the month.

Trading and market-cap data indicate the combined market capitalization of Tether (USDT) and Circle’s USDC fell by about $11 billion over the prior two months. Total stablecoin market capitalization dropped more than 2% in June, producing roughly $8 billion in outflows for the month.

The June volume increase corresponded with greater use of stablecoins for cross-border payments, institutional transfers, decentralized finance activity and continuous on-chain settlement, according to analysts and market trackers. That shift places greater emphasis on Layer 1 blockchains that offer scale and settlement features; for example, the native stablecoin supply on the Toncoin network rose about 8% in a recent week to more than $810 million.

Market trading patterns show June marked the largest monthly capital drawdown since February, when the market fell about 20%. Selling pressure across the crypto market coincided with higher on-chain stablecoin settlement activity.

Macro conditions during June included a stronger U.S. Dollar Index, which rose more than 2.25% for the month, and weakness in several global currencies, including the Japanese yen at multi-decade lows. A firmer dollar supported demand for dollar-pegged digital assets in cross-border and dollar-denominated settlement use cases.

Market participants are monitoring the divergence between rising stablecoin transaction activity and declining stablecoin liquidity as the industry enters the second half of the year. The June data documents a record level of settlement activity alongside a reduction in market capitalization for the largest stablecoins.