Aug 29, 12:07 PM

Stablecoin Payments Surge in Latin America as Global Volume Climbs to $5 Trillion

Institutional use of dollar-pegged stablecoins is accelerating in Latin America, according to a new report from Bitso Business. The crypto platform said payments routed through its B2B arm doubled between the second half of 2024 and the first half of 2025, led by gaming companies and payment-service providers. Mexico remained the region’s largest market, increasing its share of Bitso’s volumes to 47 % in the first six months of 2025. Foreign-exchange, treasury and arbitrage operations accounted for 45 % of activity, overtaking the remittance flows that initially drove adoption. Brazil and Colombia each gained two percentage points of share, while Argentina edged up by one point as companies sought faster and cheaper cross-border settlement. Globally, stablecoin rails are closing the gap with traditional card networks. A Google Cloud analysis found that stablecoin transactions tripled in 2024 to US$5 trillion in organic activity and US$30 trillion including automated arbitrage flows—comparable with Visa’s US$13 trillion annual settlements and far above PayPal’s US$1.6 trillion. The expansion is supported by clearer rules in major jurisdictions. The U.S. Genius Act, passed earlier this year, classifies stablecoins as a payment instrument rather than an investment product and restricts issuance to regulated banks and licensed non-banks. BlackRock estimates the asset class now represents about 7 % of the crypto market, with circulating supply above US$250 billion and forecasts calling for US$2 trillion by 2028, underscoring its growing role in global payments infrastructure.