Two years up 43x, one year back-and-forth trading 33 times: stablecoins in Asia are no longer an investment product—more like cash 🦖
💡 群里更新数据解读
Chainalysis, the on-chain analytics firm, has released its latest crypto geography report, providing a set of contrasting data. From Q1 2024 to Q2 2026, the number of independent wallets conducting peer-to-peer stablecoin transfers within mainland China rose 43x. During the period, there were 18.1 million such transfers, totaling $104.1 billion 📈
What’s truly unusual is the turnover rate. These self-custodied stablecoins are traded an average of 33.2 times per year—more than three times the global average of 9.3 times. Chainalysis is blunt in its assessment: holders aren’t stockpiling stablecoins waiting for price gains; instead, they’re using USDT and USDC as operating capital. In March 2026 alone, the value of stablecoin transfers within the region exceeded $4.9 billion in a single month 💥
Zoom out to all of East Asia: South Korea, with $449.1 billion, is now the largest crypto economy in East Asia. It also grew 12.3% year over year. Retail investors clearly favor AI-themed tokens. But on the other side, the picture is grim: South Korean exchange operating profits in the first half plunged 78%, average daily trading value fell 44%, market cap shrank 33%, and won deposits dropped 35% 🐋
Hong Kong, meanwhile, is institutions taking the lead. Institutional platforms account for 16% of service inflows—nearly triple that of any neighboring market. In one year, it attracted nearly $24 billion in B2B funds, and in April it also issued its first batch of stablecoin licenses ⚖️
My view is straightforward: stablecoins are shifting from trading tools to settlement tools. A major exchange operator, together with Singapore’s Gulf Bank, is aiming to build 24/7 institutional settlement. Standard Chartered has also announced institutional custody in Singapore. But such a high turnover rate also suggests that once a funding chain gets stuck at any point, contagion can spread faster than people might expect.
Do you think stablecoins will continue to serve as the settlement layer, or will regulators push them back to being a trading layer?
Let’s chat in the comments—do you see many people around you using stablecoins to transfer money?
Click the avatar to watch the livestream
Every day, I’ll bring you coverage of stablecoins and Asia’s crypto hot spots—not just what’s happening in the news, but also the logic and opportunities behind it 👀🚀
💡 群里更新数据解读
Chainalysis, the on-chain analytics firm, has released its latest crypto geography report, providing a set of contrasting data. From Q1 2024 to Q2 2026, the number of independent wallets conducting peer-to-peer stablecoin transfers within mainland China rose 43x. During the period, there were 18.1 million such transfers, totaling $104.1 billion 📈
What’s truly unusual is the turnover rate. These self-custodied stablecoins are traded an average of 33.2 times per year—more than three times the global average of 9.3 times. Chainalysis is blunt in its assessment: holders aren’t stockpiling stablecoins waiting for price gains; instead, they’re using USDT and USDC as operating capital. In March 2026 alone, the value of stablecoin transfers within the region exceeded $4.9 billion in a single month 💥
Zoom out to all of East Asia: South Korea, with $449.1 billion, is now the largest crypto economy in East Asia. It also grew 12.3% year over year. Retail investors clearly favor AI-themed tokens. But on the other side, the picture is grim: South Korean exchange operating profits in the first half plunged 78%, average daily trading value fell 44%, market cap shrank 33%, and won deposits dropped 35% 🐋
Hong Kong, meanwhile, is institutions taking the lead. Institutional platforms account for 16% of service inflows—nearly triple that of any neighboring market. In one year, it attracted nearly $24 billion in B2B funds, and in April it also issued its first batch of stablecoin licenses ⚖️
My view is straightforward: stablecoins are shifting from trading tools to settlement tools. A major exchange operator, together with Singapore’s Gulf Bank, is aiming to build 24/7 institutional settlement. Standard Chartered has also announced institutional custody in Singapore. But such a high turnover rate also suggests that once a funding chain gets stuck at any point, contagion can spread faster than people might expect.
Do you think stablecoins will continue to serve as the settlement layer, or will regulators push them back to being a trading layer?
Let’s chat in the comments—do you see many people around you using stablecoins to transfer money?
Click the avatar to watch the livestream
Every day, I’ll bring you coverage of stablecoins and Asia’s crypto hot spots—not just what’s happening in the news, but also the logic and opportunities behind it 👀🚀