Stablecoin payments: JPMorgan debunks the myth of unlimited growth

Crypto has taken a huge place in modern finance, and stablecoins are advancing like armored trucks. They are found in payments, transfers, exchanges and the pockets of institutions. However, JPMorgan has just slipped a stone into the pond, without raising its voice. Yes, usage is exploding, but capitalization will not necessarily follow the same trajectory, because digital money now circulates faster than the old stories of the global crypto market, and much more efficiently.

Stablecoins: trillions brewed, but no infinite jackpot

The first trap is confusing use and size of the trunk. According to JPMorgan, annualized stablecoin volumes reach around $17.2 trillion, while some estimates go as high as $46 trillion over twelve months. Capitalization remains close to 300 billion dollars, even after an increase of around 100 billion in one year.

The contrast is a little scratchy in the calculations. In the crypto industry, many imagined a straight line towards the trillion. JPMorgan speaks rather of a market that is more nervous than gigantic, where the same token works more.

Analysts even recall a colder projection: 500 to 600 billion dollars in capitalization by 2028. This is not ridiculous, far from being a failure. But neither is it the infinite jackpot sold by over-eager prophets.

Stablecoins are growing, certainly, but their real power is hidden in the rapid, deep, almost organic movement that is now measurable.

Velocity changes the real value of digital money

The word that breaks the mood is called velocity, and it's not a consultant's gimmick. It measures how often the same stablecoin circulates during a given period of time. The faster it runs, the less the market needs to issue mountains of new tokens.

JPMorgan says it clearly :

In our opinion, the more widely used payment systems based on stablecoins are, the higher their efficiency, and therefore their velocity, will be. In turn, higher velocity would likely limit the expansion of the stablecoin universe, even if their use in payments grows exponentially from here.

JPMorgan, source: The Block

In the global crypto market, this is a small mental revolution. Instant payments drive users to want money as fast as information. Stablecoins therefore become less dormant stocks than burning, fast, reused, almost impatient rails. This is why raw size becomes a useful indicator, but now also incomplete.

Crypto: a mature, concentrated and less spectacular infrastructure

What happens next looks less like a bubble and more like quiet industrialization. Regulation is pushing in this direction, with the GENIUS Act and the requirement for 100% backed reserves, in dollars or Treasuries.

USDT keeps 65-70% of the market, while USDC captures 20-25%, leaving little space for outsiders. Asia still dominates global usage, a sign that real-world payments are going beyond simple crypto trading.

JPMorgan Payments summarizes the turn :

Consumers and businesses increasingly expect funds to flow as quickly as information. The strong growth in real-time payments shows that instant settlement is moving from a “nice to have” to an “indispensable”.

JPMorgan Payments, source: Cryptopolitan

The numbers that shed light on mechanics

• Annualized volume estimated at $17.2 trillion, according to JPMorgan today;
• Total capitalization close to $300 billion today;
• JPMorgan targets 500 to 600 billion in 2028;
• USDT and USDC dominate nearly 90% of the global stablecoin market.

This battle already goes beyond the simple technical comfort of global digital payments. Between Europe and the United States, stablecoins are becoming a terrain of sovereignty, currency and influence. France is pushing back in euros, proof that no one wants to let the digital dollar alone dictate the rules of this new programmable crypto finance. The standoff begins now.