“Over the past year, the global volume of settlements made using stablecoins has surpassed $7 trillion. To put this into perspective, settlements processed through Visa and Mastercard systems amounted to $14 trillion,” stated representatives from Circle.
These analysts are confident that blockchain infrastructure is well-prepared to handle even greater economic activity in the near future:
“We anticipate that in the coming years, millions of businesses and billions of individuals will embrace new blockchain-based financial instruments that will compete with traditional financial institutions.”
Interestingly, Latin America is emerging as the largest consumer of digital currencies, with citizens from this region conducting transactions worth $562 billion between mid-2021 and mid-2022.
“51% of Latin American consumers have made purchases using digital currencies, and one-third have primarily used stablecoins for everyday transactions,” reported Circle.
The company foresees trillions of dollars flowing into blockchain-based financial services in due course:
“Digital currencies and blockchains are rapidly moving beyond the mainstream, with user experiences improving and the blockchains themselves becoming faster and more stable,” concluded the experts.
Circle’s statement comes amid the buzz surrounding El Salvador’s new visa program, as the country emerges as one of the most cryptocurrency-friendly nations. As soon as local authorities announced that they would offer passports in exchange for investments in Bitcoin or USDT stablecoins, 153 people promptly applied to participate.
Moreover, Circle recently collaborated with Stanford University’s Applied Cryptography Group to launch open-source protocols aimed at combating digital asset theft and erroneous transactions.