Stablecoins Poised to Swell to $3.7 Trillion by 2030—Citi Bank Drops Bombshell Prediction
Wall Street’s latest crystal ball gaze? Stablecoins—those boring-but-critical crypto tokens pegged to real-world assets—could balloon to a $3.7 trillion market by 2030. Citi’s analysts, presumably between martini lunches, see them eating traditional finance’s lunch.
Why the hype? Faster settlements, 24/7 rails, and—let’s be real—regulators still playing catch-up. The kicker? This forecast assumes stablecoins will gobble up just 10% of global money movement. Underpromise, overdeliver—or so the suits hope.
Of course, banks love projecting growth… right up until the SEC slams the brakes. Remember when they said DeFi would ‘democratize finance’? Yeah, ask the guys paying $50 gas fees how that’s going.
Stablecoins are no longer just for crypto traders. A new report by global banking giant Citi reveals that stablecoins could reach a market cap of, driven by expanding real-world use cases like payments, remittances, and institutional finance.
Here’s a breakdown of the report and what it means for the future of digital assets.
Stablecoin Market Overview
The total market capitalization of stablecoins currently stands at, with a 24-hour trading volume of.
Top stablecoins by market cap:
- Tether (USDT): $149.97 billion
- USD Coin (USDC): $60.71 billion
- USDS: $7.72 billion
- Athena USDe and Dai follow closely
Tether also dominates trading volume with overexchanged in the past 24 hours.
Citi’s Stablecoin Forecast: What to Expect by 2030
Citi’s Future of Finance report outlines two scenarios for stablecoin growth:
- Base Case: $1.6 trillion market cap by 2030
- Bull Case: $3.7 trillion market cap by 2030
According to, Citi’s Global Head of Future of Finance, stablecoins are evolving into tools for:
- Cross-border payments
- Domestic remittances
- SME and corporate transactions
- Settlement of tokenized assets
Ghose explains that stablecoins allow global users to hold US dollars or euros affordably and efficiently.
Payment Companies Drive Adoption
Supporting Citi’s prediction, Fireblocks shared real-world adoption data showing that:
- Payment firms represent 11% of their clients
- But they account for 16% of stablecoin transactions
- Transaction volumes are growing 30% quarter over quarter
- Over the last 90 days, Fireblocks processed $517 billion in USDT and USDC
- $82 billion came from payment-focused clients
This data confirms that real-world use is growing rapidly, particularly in the payments sector.
Stablecoin Regulation and Bank Adoption
The future of stablecoins will also depend on evolving global regulations. One key question remains:
According to Citi’s Ghose, the answer depends on national strategies:
“Some countries may favor stablecoins, others will back CBDCs, and some may adopt both, depending on their regulatory environment.”
Conclusion
With growing adoption across businesses and payment networks, stablecoins are moving into mainstream finance. Citi’s projection of a $3.7 trillion market cap by 2030 may soon shift from possibility to reality.
