'Stablecoins show blockchain utility while altcoins seek value capture'

For much of its history, the crypto industry asked a single question: Can blockchain technology become useful beyond speculation? In 2026, that question is becoming harder to ignore. Stablecoins now account for nearly 14 per cent of the crypto market, up from less than 3 per cent in early 2020. They processed roughly $28 trillion in transaction volume during 2025. By any reasonable measure, blockchain has already found a large-scale use case. The more interesting question now is whether the rest of the crypto market can build on that success.

Some vital numbers

Stablecoins processed roughly $28 trillion in transaction volume during 2025. That figure is larger than the annual economic output of the United States and substantially higher than Visa’s annual payment volume of roughly $16 trillion. In early 2020, stablecoins accounted for less than 3 per cent of the crypto market. In 2026, they account for nearly 14 per cent and represent more than $312 billion in value. Few segments of the digital asset industry have experienced a comparable transformation. 

What makes that growth particularly significant is that it was not driven primarily by investment demand. A trader may buy Bitcoin expecting it to appreciate. A venture investor may buy an altcoin in anticipation of adoption. A stablecoin, by contrast, is typically used because someone wants to move value, settle a transaction, or access liquidity. So, the industry’s most compelling evidence of mainstream adoption has emerged not from speculation but from a strong case of utility.

A huge settlement layer

That success, however, creates an interesting problem for the rest of the market. Stablecoins have demonstrated that blockchain networks can support economic activity at scale. USDT alone accounts for roughly $186 billion of stablecoin supply, or about 59 per cent of the sector. USDC contributes another $60 billion plus. Together, they form a settlement layer that underpins a significant share of activity across exchanges, decentralised finance platforms, and cross-border transfers. Yet a stablecoin remains a stablecoin. One dollar today is intended to remain one dollar tomorrow. Adoption has been achieved and, therefore, the question of “value capture” remains open. 

For years, investors often valued blockchain networks on the basis of what they might become. Today, they are increasingly evaluating them on the basis of what they already do. The shift has coincided with a more demanding market environment. Analyst data showed total crypto market capitalisation falling 20.4 per cent during the first quarter of 2026. However, Bitcoin maintained roughly 56–58 per cent market dominance. In crypto, narratives face greater scrutiny when liquidity becomes scarcer. And it should be rightfully so.

High-value networks

The networks that continue to attract activity offer a useful clue. Ethereum secures roughly $37 billion in decentralised finance value. Solana supports about $4.6 billion. Those figures do not merely indicate investor interest. They reflect capital, applications, and users operating within those ecosystems. In a market containing more than 17,000 digital assets, meaningful economic activity remains concentrated in a relatively small number of networks.

The stable-alt relationship

Seen through that lens, the relationship between stablecoins and altcoins becomes clearer. Stablecoins may be solving the adoption problem, but they are not necessarily the primary destination for investment returns. The networks that facilitate trading, lending, payments, tokenisation, and other financial activity around those stablecoins are seeking to capture the value created by that adoption. The competition among altcoins is therefore becoming less about attracting attention and more about attracting economic activity. 

This is also why the conversation around mainstream adoption is changing. For much of the previous decade, adoption was imagined as a future event marked by rising prices and a wave of new investors. The evidence in 2026 points elsewhere. A market segment that barely accounted for 3 per cent of crypto in early 2020 now accounts for nearly 14 per cent. A product designed to remain stable now processes approximately $28 trillion in annual volume. Adoption, in many respects, is already here. 

If stablecoins have established blockchain’s usefulness, altcoins must establish their own. The winners are unlikely to be determined solely by market narratives or short-term price performance. They are more likely to be determined by their ability to attract users, liquidity, and applications that generate sustainable economic activity. The industry’s first chapter was about proving that digital assets could exist. Stablecoins have gone a step further and shown that they can be used. The next chapter will be written by the networks that can convert that use into enduring value (read utility, jobs, innovation, and so on). 

(Disclaimer: This article is by Vikram Subburaj, CEO, Giottus. Views expressed are of his own.)