GM. This is Milk Road, the crypto newsletter that slaps harder than your favorite 2000s throwback.
2025 was a rough year for crypto.
Prices dropped, the hype cooled off, and confidence took a hit. 😏
But one part of the market kept moving up.
Stablecoins.
While the rest of the space struggled, stablecoins added $102 billion in 2025 alone. Their total supply is now sitting at $311 billion, up more than 50% in just one year.
And this is only the beginning.
Growth isn’t slowing down - it’s about to speed up.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says U.S. dollar-backed stablecoins could pass $3 trillion by 2030.
That would mean growing by 57% every year. Sounds ambitious. But is it possible?
We think so.
Not just because regulation is finally catching up (with the Genius Act in the U.S. and MiCA in the EU)… but because real adoption is here.
Until now, most of the momentum came from people living in countries with high inflation.
Why?
👉 Because stablecoins gave them a simple way to protect their money as their local currencies kept losing value.
That’s exactly how Tether (USDT) took over 60% of the market.
They focused on emerging markets, nailed the on and off ramps, and became the default way to store value and pay for things.
This use case is still growing fast.
But what’s coming next is even bigger. A new wave of real-world stablecoin use cases is about to take off and push adoption to the next level.
Here’s what we’re exploring:
- What are the real-world use cases taking shape
- Why 2026 is set to be a massive year for stablecoin adoption
- How this shift could reshape the entire industry
- Which companies are leading the charge in each area
- The two names we believe are best positioned for this trend
We believe stablecoins could be the biggest growth story of 2026.
When U.S. regulators, who spent years pushing back on crypto, suddenly shift their tone and start making bold, optimistic predictions, it's a signal worth paying attention to.
That’s why we want to get ahead of this trend early and put ourselves in a strong position to benefit if it plays out.
Don’t you?
Let’s get into it.
WHAT ARE STABLECOINS
Before we go any further, let’s get the basics straight.
👉 A stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency that’s built to keep a steady value, usually tied to a traditional currency like the U.S. dollar at a 1-to-1 ratio.
You can think of it as digital cash on the blockchain.
It gives you the stability of fiat money combined with the speed, low fees, and programmability of crypto.
We’ll get into all the benefits later in the report.
There are two main types of stablecoins you’ll come across today:
- Fiat-backed stablecoins (like USDC or USDT)
- Fiat and crypto-backed stablecoins (like USDS or USDe)
Fiat-backed stablecoins are backed one-to-one by actual U.S. dollars held in a bank, or by highly liquid assets like U.S. government bonds and T-bills.
✍️ This model is simple, trusted, and currently dominates the market.
Fiat and crypto-backed stablecoins include a mix of fiat reserves and digital assets like BTC or ETH.
✍️ This gives issuers more flexibility, but it also brings additional risk and complexity.
Today, more than 90% of all stablecoins in circulation are fiat-backed.
That’s largely because of two major players:
- USDT, with around 60% market share
- USDC, with about 25%
Together, they account for 85% of the stablecoin market.
But we believe 2026 could be a major turning point for stablecoins and now we want to explain why.
This might also help answer a big question: Will fiat-backed stablecoins continue to dominate, or is the market about to shift?
Let’s take a closer look at what’s changing and what that means for the future of this space.
WHY 2026 COULD BE A BIG YEAR FOR STABLECOINS
We already mentioned that Scott Bessent expects the stablecoin market to reach $3 trillion by 2030.
If you think he’s saying that just to make headlines or throw out bold empty predictions, you might want to think again.
👉 We believe there’s a real case behind that number, built on a combination of key factors that are lining up and could trigger explosive growth in the years ahead.
Let us walk you through what has changed and why it could unlock that kind of growth.
1. The most important shift is regulatory clarity.
Without clear rules, issuing or even using stablecoins has been too risky for banks, fintechs, and most major institutions.
That’s now starting to change.
You might have heard that both the U.S. and the EU have now introduced stablecoin regulations.
- In the U.S., this came through the Genius Act
- and in the EU, it’s through MiCA
We know this might not be the most exciting part, but trust us, it’s important to understand the basics of these rules if you want a clear idea of where the stablecoin market is going and why.
Let’s dive into it now quickly - we promise we’ll keep it short.
If we take a closer look at the Genius Act, it focuses specifically on payment stablecoins which are designed to be used for everyday payments or settlements.
For the first time, entities in the U.S. now have a clear legal framework if they want to issue a payment stablecoin.
That wasn’t the case before.
For years, the banks, fintechs, and all the big players stayed away because the rules were unclear.
And similar regulations are now in place in the EU, which is a strong sign of growing stablecoin adoption worldwide.
But what about stablecoins that aren’t classified as payment stablecoins or those issued by decentralized protocols?
So far, the Genius Act doesn’t apply to them (nor does MiCA). This leaves a gray area for non-payment, decentralized stablecoins like USDS (Sky) and USDE (Ethena).
2. Another thing that could drive major growth in 2026 is that the infrastructure is already in place.
Today, companies can easily pick and use fast and low-cost existing public blockchains.
But you might think that the big players will build their own blockchains and won’t use public blockchains, don’t you? Well here is the proof that even public blockchains might attract the biggest players in the world.
For example, Visa announced that all U.S. card issuers, including banks, fintechs and crypto companies, can now settle directly with Visa using USDC. And they’re doing it on Solana!
Plus, big enterprise-level blockchains are on the way too, like Tempo from Stripe or Arc from Circle are all coming online in 2026.
Financial players will have plenty of infrastructure options to choose from, which is a great sign since each one might have different needs. And the good news is, that’s going to be sorted out in 2026!
3. And finally, we believe companies will have strong incentives to build a stablecoin strategy and use them to their advantage.
If they don’t, they could be putting their business at risk or at the very least missing out on big opportunities.
A lot of people still think stablecoins are just digital dollars. But the truth is, they’re being used in all kinds of ways by all kinds of people. And that’s what makes them so powerful.
Here are just a few of the ways stablecoins are being used today:
- As a hedge against inflation
- As a better way to send and receive payments
- As a business model
- As an investment vehicle
We’re going to break down each of these in more detail.
You’ll see exactly how they work, who’s using them, and why it matters. Let’s get into it.
Uh, Oh… 😧 The rest of this report is exclusive to Crypto PRO or PRO All Access members!
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WHAT’S LEFT INSIDE? 👀
- What each use case actually means
- Which ones are set to grow the fastest and why
- How market share is expected to shift by 2030
- Where are the biggest opportunities
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