Standard Chartered Expects The Stablecoin Market Cap To Ceach USD 2T By End Of 2028
The Daily Crypto Update for Institutional Investors
Analysts at Standard Chartered expect the stablecoin market cap to reach USD 2T by the end of 2028 - We discuss the estimate in this AM’s note
The aggregate ‘fiat stablecoin’ market cap is USD 266B, with USDt and USDC continuing to dominate: USDt and USDC account for 69% and 28% of the current stablecoin market cap, respectively. The two stablecoins have expanded by ~28% and ~32% over the past year. Outside of USDt and USDC, the remaining stablecoins have an aggregate market cap of just USD ~9B. In terms of market cap, distant third and fourth place are PayPal’s PYUSD, 4.07B, Ripple’s RLUSD, 1.56B. PYUSD has likely seen the largest relative increase in market cap over the past year, expanding from USD 778M in February 2025.
Standard Chartered believes ⅔ of the anticipated USD 2T stablecoin market cap will come from emerging markets: Stablecoins have been pitched as a new way for users in emerging markets to gain exposure to the US dollar, partly driven by the debasement of local currencies. This has largely proven to be true to-date; Google searches for both USDt and USDC over the past 5 years are highest in countries like Cambodia, Laos, China and Nigeria, jurisdictions where traditional access to dollars is strained. A recent survey by stablecoin infrastructure firm BNVK found that the ‘[d]esire to get paid in stablecoins is highest in Africa and APAC.’Among the survey’s respondents, a higher proportion own stablecoins in low and middle-income economies (60%) than in high-income ones (45%), with Africa leading at 79%.’ The survey also found 85% of respondents in low and middle-income economies ‘say their country’s economic situation influences their use of stablecoins and crypto.’ Last week, we noted that ‘trading volume for USDt against the tTurkish lira (TRY) has outpaced BTC/TRY trading volume by nearly four to one on popular Turkish exchange BTCTurk. We noted that stablecoin adoption in emerging markets could act as a ‘stepping stone’ towards BTC and other digital asset adoption by familiarizing users with novel concepts like private key management.
The crypto space continues to drive stablecoin adoption: The largest BTC markets remain those trading against USDt. For instance, on Binance, which does not accept traditional US dollar funding, BTC/USDt has seen USDt 1.61B in trading volume over the past 24 hours. This is compared to 566.65M worth of trading volume in Coinbase’s BTC/USD market. Crypto exchanges remain the largest holders of stablecoins as well. Binance currently holds USDt 38.24B, or ~20% of the stablecoin’s market cap. OKX, Bybit, Bitget, Gate, and KuCoin hold a further ~12% of USDt. According to BNVK, crypto-native methods remain dominant avenues for acquiring stablecoins. Centralized exchanges, crypto wallet apps and crypto brokers account for 79% of buying methods for stablecoin owners.
Stablecoins’ growing role in western traditional finance: In January, Interactive Brokers enabled 24/7 account funding via stablecoins. In December the CFTC announced a ‘pilot program’ for the use of digital assets, including BTC, ETH and stablecoins ‘as collateral in derivatives markets.’ Last week, the SEC began instructing ‘brokers that they need only give their stablecoins a 2% haircut when calculating how much they can be used as regulatory capital.’
CRYPTO HEADLINES
Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) reported its 100th BTC purchase, acquiring 592 coins last week for USD 39.8M, funded by stock sales. Its holdings now total 717,722 BTC, bought for USD 54.56B at an average cost of USD 76,020 per coin. - link - @CoinDesk
MARA Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA) has acquired a 64% stake in Exaion, a French computing infrastructure company. The move marks MARA’s expansion into AI and cloud services. EDF remains a minority shareholder and NJJ Capital joins as a partner. Several miners, including MARA, are shifting toward AI data centers amid rising mining difficulty. - link - @CointTelegraph
Bitdeer (NASDAQ: BTDR) reported zero BTC holdings after selling all production to fund AI data center expansion and liquidity. The company recently raised USD 325M through convertible notes and USD 43.5M via equity to support this pivot. Peers Riot (NASDAQ: RIOT) and Bitfarms (NASDAQ: BITF) are making similar moves. - link - @CoinDesk
Missouri’s House Commerce Committee has received HB 2080, which seeks to establish a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Fund and grant the state treasurer authority to receive, invest, and hold BTC. The bill follows last year’s failed effort and aligns with recent US and other state crypto treasury initiatives. - link - @TheBlock
Austria’s financial regulator has ordered KuCoin EU to stop onboarding new customers and conducting new business after losing key compliance staff required under the Markets in Crypto Assets regime. The freeze remains until KuCoin appoints anti-money-laundering and sanctions compliance officers, which the company claims is in progress. - link - @CoinDesk
South Korea’s central bank recommended that only licensed commercial banks be allowed to issue won-denominated stablecoins due to money laundering and financial stability concerns. The Bank of Korea cited the sector’s high regulatory standards and recent crypto exchange errors. The central bank may reconsider non-bank issuers after risk assessment. - link - @Bloomberg
Based, a web3 trading and payments app built on Hyperliquid, raised USD 11.5M in a Series A round led by Pantera Capital. The project shared plans to pursue AI-driven ‘agentic commerce,’ which are AI agents tasked with facilitating research on trading opportunities and executing trades. The platform claims over 100,000 users, USD 40B in trading volume, and targets North American expansion. - link - @TheBlock
Elliptic reported that a network of Russia-linked crypto exchanges continues to facilitate sanctions evasion via high-volume crypto transactions, despite ongoing regulatory efforts. The report highlights five exchanges, such as ABCeX and Rapira, with billions in processed transactions and mechanisms for bypassing financial restrictions. - link - @TheBlock
TOP ARTICLES
Bloomberg: Hedge Funds That Piled Into US Bitcoin Funds Are First to Exit
Barron’s: Bitcoin Price Fell Below $65,000. Why Trump Tariff Turmoil Is Crushing Cryptos.
OPEN-SOURCE RESEARCH / LONG-READ OF THE DAY
Winklevoss’ Gemini Risks a Hard Landing After the Crypto Rout, Bloomberg, February 22, 2026
Bloomberg discusses challenges faced by Gemini amid crypto’s sell-off.
CRYPTO MULTIMEDIA
The Safest Dollar on the Internet, Kleiner Perkins Podcast, January 26, 2026
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire discusses his long-term view on the firm’s stablecoin, USDC.
CHART OF THE DAY
USDt and USDC’s combined market cap reached ~11% of the aggregate crypto market cap at the start of the month, its highest level since March 2023.
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