A new working paper from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) analyzes on‑chain data to show that stablecoins are increasingly used for global payments, while Bitcoin and Ether activity remains predominantly speculative. Using transaction records across major blockchains, the authors estimate that cross‑border crypto transactions now reach roughly $800 billion per quarter, with dollar‑pegged stablecoins such as USDT and USDC accounting for a rapidly growing share of this flow. The paper finds that stablecoins are heavily used for cross‑border transfers, remittances, and trading liquidity, reflecting their lower volatility and closer linkage to the traditional financial system compared with unbacked cryptoassets. By contrast, the BIS finds that Bitcoin and Ether on‑chain volumes are dominated by trading and speculative activity rather than everyday payments or real‑economy use. The study classifies transaction patterns by behavior type and concludes that most BTC and ETH usage is tied to exchange activity, arbitrage, and investment positioning, not merchant payments or payroll. This reinforces the view of these assets as speculative instruments rather than widely adopted payment media. The BIS frames these trends as relevant for regulation and monetary policy: the rise of stablecoins signals growing private competition in cross‑border payments and potential new channels for dollarization, while the speculative nature of major cryptoassets underscores financial‑stability and investor‑protection concerns. Policymakers are encouraged to consider how to regulate stablecoin issuers and service providers, address risks from large, dollar‑linked payment tokens operating outside traditional banking, and evaluate how these developments interact with ongoing work on central bank digital currencies and cross‑border payment reforms.

AI-generated background, compiled from web sources — not editorial content.

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