Coinbase report says stablecoin transfers hit $891bn in third quarter of 2026
Stablecoins moved more than $400m an hour in adjusted transfer volume in the third quarter of 2026, with most activity falling outside US banking hours, according to a Coinbase-commissioned report.
Why it matters: The report links rising stablecoin settlement to US bank testing and cross-border business use, even as the market's total capitalisation has stayed roughly flat over the past year.
Key points
- Adjusted stablecoin transfer volume reached $891bn in the third quarter of 2026, more than four times the level of early 2023.
- 73% of screened transfer volume took place outside US banking hours, including nights, weekends and holidays.
Stablecoin transfer volume reached $891bn in the third quarter of 2026, more than quadrupling since early 2023, according to a report commissioned by Coinbase and produced by The Block Research. That works out at more than $400m an hour in adjusted volume, Cointelegraph reports.
The stablecoin transfer volume was heavily concentrated outside US banking hours: 73% of screened activity took place at night, at weekends or on holidays. Researchers counted 293 million blockchain addresses holding stablecoins, more than the combined cards issued by American Express and Discover, though they cautioned that addresses are not the same as individual users.
Adoption among institutions is also growing. Business-to-business payment volume rose 36% year on year.
Yet 64% said their bank or adviser had never raised the topic. Stablecoin market capitalisation stood at $301bn on Tuesday, down about 0.6% from $303bn on 20 October 2025, according to DefiLlama.
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