Stablecoin payments surge 45% to $482 billion this year despite flat supply, Allium report shows

Stablecoin payment volume grew 45% to $482 billion in the first nine months of 2026, even as total circulating supply increased only 0.4% to $305 billion. The number of transactions jumped 71% to over 1 billion. Growth was driven by stablecoin-linked cards, which saw spending reach $3.9 billion, ten times year-ago levels, with small purchases under $50 accounting for 84% of the increase. Mastercard, Stripe and Visa all announced services this week integrating stablecoins with traditional payment systems.