Stablecoins process $76 billion per weekend and bite back

Stablecoins have long ceased to be just a tool for crypto traders. According to the latest report from Binance Research, stablecoins are penetrating deeper into the traditional financial system. Every weekend, they process an average of $76 billion in volume, while banks and traditional markets are closed. This makes stablecoins a serious competitor to established payment networks.

Weekend volume approaches that of Visa

The most striking finding in the report is the weekend volume of stablecoins. An average of $76 billion per weekend means about $38 billion per day, a figure that comes close to Visa’s daily volume. While the traditional banking system is on pause on Saturdays and Sundays, blockchain networks continue to operate at an institutional scale.

Analyst @alicharts states that this 24/7 availability is the reason why liquidity is concentrating so quickly. Total stablecoin reserves on exchanges across the sector have now reached $93 billion. This money is not only flowing into crypto trading, but is also actively used for payments and settlement of capital flows worldwide. More background on stablecoin developments can be found in our stablecoin news overview.

Binance dominates with 57% market share

Of the $93 billion in stablecoin reserves on exchanges, Binance holds no less than $53 billion. That represents a 57% market share and a lead of $42 billion over its nearest competitor. This position gives the platform a huge competitive buffer in the fight for institutional capital flows.

At the level of blockchain networks, BNB Chain is gaining ground as payment infrastructure. The network processes 10 million transactions daily via 15 million monthly active addresses. Binance Pay, the platform’s payment system, shows 114% year-on-year growth in volume and is active with 21 million merchants. This indicates that tokenised dollars are increasingly preferred over traditional payment methods. We previously reported that 70% of EU withdrawals on Binance go to self custody, which also points to a shift in how users manage their digital dollars.

The data from the Binance Research report shows that stablecoins are growing into a primary settlement layer for global trade. The combination of non-stop availability, growing liquidity and integration with tens of millions of merchants means that the line between crypto and traditional finance is increasingly blurring.