Stablecoins Go Mainstream: Citi Predicts Trillion-Dollar Domination by 2030
Wall Street’s latest darling isn’t stocks or bonds—it’s programmable dollars. Citi’s analysts now project stablecoins will smash the trillion-dollar market cap barrier within six years as traditional finance finally catches on to crypto’s killer use case.
Forget ’volatile crypto’—these dollar-pegged tokens are quietly eating global payments. Every institutional adoption headline hides a dozen backend integrations by banks who’d never touch Bitcoin but love 24/7 settlements.
The irony? The same institutions that mocked crypto now race to issue their own stablecoins. Guess those ’useless internet tokens’ look different when you’re the one printing them.
Institutional demand and macro drivers
The Citi report identifies regulatory progress, particularly in the US and Europe, as a key factor enabling stablecoins to expand beyond their original role in crypto trading and DeFi.
New US legislation introduced in early 2025 aims to establish the legal framework for stablecoin issuance and reserves. Meanwhile, the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation has set standards across the bloc.
This regulatory momentum has coincided with demand from emerging markets, where access to dollars is constrained, and from financial institutions exploring stablecoin infrastructure for payments, settlements, and liquidity management.
The report noted that banks and payment providers are beginning to integrate stablecoins into existing financial systems, removing barriers that once confined stablecoins to crypto-native use. In particular, Citi projected that demand for stablecoins will create a new source of purchasing activity for US Treasuries.
Issuers backing their tokens with safe, liquid assets could hold more Treasuries by 2030 than any current foreign jurisdiction, adding over $1 trillion to Treasury demand under the bank’s base case.
Use cases expand beyond crypto
While crypto trading remains the largest use case, responsible for up to 95% of current stablecoin volumes, Citi projected growth in areas such as B2B cross-border payments, consumer remittances, and institutional capital markets activity.
Emerging markets such as Argentina, Nigeria, and Turkey are also contributing to the retail adoption of stablecoins, as they serve as a hedge against inflation and currency volatility. Meanwhile, remittance corridors are gradually shifting from traditional channels to stablecoin-enabled flows due to lower costs and faster settlement times.
On the institutional side, major asset managers and fintech firms are piloting stablecoin-based settlements for funds, treasury operations, and liquidity provisioning, reflecting confidence in the infrastructure and regulatory landscape.
Citi compared the potential trajectory of stablecoins to that of the card payment industry, suggesting that while a few dominant issuers may emerge, national players and public-private models are also expected to proliferate.
This could mirror the rise of regional card networks in countries like Brazil and India, where local regulations support domestic financial sovereignty. The report emphasized the importance of trust, reserve transparency, and user experience in determining which stablecoins achieve mainstream penetration.
It also noted that long-awaited regulatory clarity has removed one of the sector’s largest barriers, enabling incumbents and challengers alike to build services on more predictable legal foundations.
