Global Crypto Adoption Soars as Stablecoins Hit $4 Trillion: TRM Labs

TRM's report shows that in January through July 2025 the United States saw around a 50 percent increase in crypto transaction volume during the same period in 2024, driving the market past $1 trillion in on-chain transactions. The U.S. remained #2 in TRM's "Country Crypto Adoption Index" behind India, which was in the top position for the third year running.

In South Asia, adoption is accelerating at the fastest pace. TRM mentions that the region grew approximately 80 percent year-on-year from January–July 2024 to January–July 2025, up to approximately $300 billion in crypto commerce.

India, ranked #1, is aided by an enormous youth demographic, growing digital-asset culture and growing institutional demand. Pakistan, at #3, has moved to install formal regulatory frameworks: in March 2025 the government set up a "Pakistan Crypto Council" and planned for an independent regulator, the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA). Bangladesh, even though officially banning crypto platforms, remains to show considerable underground usage as individuals find workarounds where there is limited access to foreign exchange.

Surprisingly, crypto adoption is also ongoing in North Africa, even where bans or severe limitations are in place. Egypt (#20), Morocco (#21), Algeria (#33) and Tunisia (#42) all rank in the top 50 for adoption according to TRM, pointing out that bottom-up demand will outlast regulatory prohibition. Another of the report's most striking trends is the rise of stablecoins. TRM finds that between January and July 2025, stablecoins made up 30 percent of total on-chain crypto transaction volume. Combined transaction volume of stablecoins between these months crossed $4 trillion, an 83 percent increase from the same period in 2024.

The dominance of U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins is apparent, more than 90 percent of the fiat-backed stablecoins are USDPegged, and only two tokens, Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC), have 93 percent control of the entire stablecoin market capitalization.

TRM further reports that stablecoins dominated on-chain volume, but dynamics of illicit uses are quietly evolving as sanctions-connected activity in stablecoins fell by approximately $5.2 billion from 2024 to 2025, a signal that sanction-exposed parties may be leaving stablecoins for other categories of digital assets. But stablecoins still represented 60 percent of illegal crypto transaction volume in Q1 2025 (though 99 percent legal overall). The report also notes that the extortion- and blackmail-related use of stablecoins increased by 380 percent year-to-date (Jan–July 2024 vs Jan–July 2025).

Collectively, the numbers create a picture of a changing digital-asset landscape: retail consumers, institutions and payments streams are each helping to fuel the expansion of crypto adoption.

"Retail-led adoption rose by more than 125 percent from January–September 2024 to the same period in 2025," the report states. Clarity around regulation appears to be a key enabler. In the United States, the period saw significant legislative and policy moves, including the passing of the GENIUS Act (the first comprehensive U.S. stablecoin legislation), the White House releasing its 180-Day Digital Assets Report, a national cryptocurrency coordinator being appointed, and the establishment of a crypto-specific task-force at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

What is interesting is that the report indicates most stablecoin activity is legitimate (99 percent) and that the proportion of sanctions-circumventing through stablecoins is declining, an indicator there may be a move towards more regulated, transparent use cases from speculative or illicit flows.

This might make some digital-asset constructs more feasible from a regulatory and compliance perspective. But there is danger: fast growth by itself does not guarantee safety, and investors must be careful of fraud, weak issuer buffers, regulatory arbitrage and underlying business models. An example is fast takeup in weakly supervised nations, which can increase exposure to exchange breakdown, theft, hacking or regulatory reversal. Going into the second half of 2025, TRM is confident stablecoins will expand further in the crypto space based on institutional integration, payments innovation and regulatory frameworks.

To those regions that want to be leaders in digital assets, the message is clear: policy transparency, institution-friendly frameworks and consumer protection matter. For the Asia-Pacific region and Australia, the evidence gives three lessons. First, countries with younger, tech-savvy populations and weak financial infrastructure, e.g., remittance economies and inflationary economies will tend to see crypto adoption gaining pace. Second, stablecoins have the potential to be significant tools in cross-border payments, value protection, and economic resilience if regulatory frameworks hold risk.

Third, blanket bans may reduce formal volumes, but not zero out adoption, so regulators will prefer calibrated frameworks over bans. The TRM Labs 2025 report captures a crucial moment: crypto adoption is expanding exponentially, stablecoins are becoming backbone infrastructure, and regulatory clarity is assuming a critical role.

Depending on the analysis of transaction-data and web-traffic utilized, jurisdictions around the world are going through a shift from experimental to institutional use. For policymakers, investors and users alike, the era of crypto as a niche asset is quickly being overwritten with crypto as mainstream infrastructure.