Stablecoins, which play a major role in the global cryptocurrency ecosystem, saw massive adoption in 2024, with their transfer volumes beating those of Visa and Mastercard combined. The annual stablecoin transfer volume reached $27.6 trillion last year, surpassing the combined volumes of Visa and Mastercard by 7.7%, according to a Jan. 31 report by crypto exchange CEX.io. As CoinTelegraph’s Helen Partz reports below, one of the major catalysts amplifying stablecoin transfer volume has been the increased use of bots, especially on Solana and Base, CEX.io lead analyst Illia Otychenko said. Tether’s USDt, the world’s largest stablecoin by market capitalization, accounted for 79.7% of stablecoin trading volume on average, strengthening its position amid surging stablecoin reserves on centralized exchanges. Stablecoins beat Visa and Mastercard despite losing share in the market Stablecoin supply saw a significant surge of 59% in 2024, reaching 1% of the US dollar supply. Despite beating Visa and Mastercard in volumes, stablecoins lost 13.5% in share within the total market cap, CEX.io noted. The market share drop mainly occurred in the third quarter of 2024 amid decreased activity in the broader crypto market. Regarding their overall growth, CEX.io’s Otychenko said: “Stablecoins experienced a surge in both supply and volume following the post-election […]