Key Insights
- Ethereum, stablecoin transfer volume increased by more than $8 trillion in Q4 2025 due to increased on-chain usage.
- The Ethereum supply of stablecoins increased by 43% due to higher transfer activity.
- Network throughput reached a record high, supporting a daily volume of transactions and active addresses.
Ethereum Stablecoin Transfer Volume Sets New Records as Network Activity Climbs in Late 2025
Ethereum stablecoin transfer volume reached a new record in the fourth quarter of 2025, indicating a significant increase in the rate of on-chain payment transactions and network usage.
A new all-time high in Ethereum was recorded, with over $8 trillion stablecoins transferred in the quarter, according to data released by Token Terminal.
The number represents a significant improvement over previous times of the year, indicating an increase in the number of transactions, an overall growth in the supply of stablecoins, and a rise in the number of addresses on the Ethereum base layer.
Token Terminal reported that the amount of $8 trillion was almost twice the volume of stablecoin transfers in the second quarter of 2025, when the volume of transfers was slightly above the $8 trillion figure.
The sharp rise occurred over a relatively short time frame, indicating a material change in the frequency with which stablecoins are being moved across the Ethereum network, rather than a gradual, multi-year trend.
https://twitter.com/tokenterminal/status/2007923331526459855
Etherium Stablecoin Transfer Volume is twice as high as it was in mid-year
During the period of growth in Ethereum stablecoin transfers, the volume of stablecoins put into circulation in the network also increased significantly.
According to data compiled by Blockworks, the total stablecoin supply on Ethereum grew by approximately 43% over the course of 2025. At the beginning of the year, stablecoin issuance stood near $127 billion.
This rise in supply is highly consistent with the increase in the amount transferred, implying that the increased issuance was converted directly into on-chain activity, rather than being left as unutilized balances.
Competing comments to the data pointed out that the infrastructure to support such transfers already exists, and adoption had been increasing with usage.
Network activity reaches record transaction levels
Broader Ethereum network metrics also reached new highs during the same period. According to data from Etherscan, daily transactions on Ethereum climbed to a record 2.23 million in late December. This represented a 48% increase compared with transaction levels recorded one year earlier.
User engagement indicators showed similar growth. According to Token Terminal, the highest number of active addresses was $10.4 million in December, with daily unique sending and receiving addresses exceeding one million at the end of the month.
These metrics coincided with the period in which Ethereum stablecoin transfer volume reached its highest level.
Market observers tracking address activity said the data suggests broad participation across the network, rather than concentrated activity among a small number of wallets.
Ethereum continues to hold stablecoin market share
Ethereum still maintains the biggest portion of stablecoin issuance of any public blockchain. As of today, Ethereum is estimated to have a larger portion of the stablecoin supply, around 57%, than Tron, which has around 27%.
The majority of that supply is minted on the Ethereum blockchain, which helps the blockchain to be the primary settlement layer in transporting stablecoins.
The centralization of stablecoin issues and transfers on Ethereum has also been a major factor contributing to the increase in Ethereum stablecoin transfers observed throughout 2025.
Ether is at the forefront of tokenizing real assets
In addition to stablecoin activity, Ethereum remains the market leader in tokenizing real-world assets. According to data provided by RWA.xyz, Ethereum accounts for approximately 65% of all on-chain real-world asset values, estimated to be around $19 billion.
However, when layer-2 networks and other Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible chains are included, Ethereum’s share of tokenized real-world assets rises above 70%.
Protocol upgrades underpin rising throughput
Building more into this sentiment, recent and upcoming protocol upgrades have coincided with the growth in Ethereum stablecoin transfer volume. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin stated in a recent post that the network has achieved alignment between decentralization, security, and scalability through features that are already operational in production.
Central to this claim are peer data availability sampling, known as PeerDAS, and zero-knowledge Ethereum virtual machines, or zkEVMs. The Fusaka upgrade added PeerDAS in December, designed to enhance the network’s throughput and reduce hardware requirements among network members.
It allows nodes to verify data availability without downloading complete datasets.
Buterin said this functionality is already live on Ethereum’s mainnet and represents a significant step toward higher bandwidth at the base layer.
zkEVM development continues alongside live upgrades
The second component highlighted by Buterin involves zkEVMs, which allow Ethereum blocks to be validated using zero-knowledge proofs while remaining compatible with the existing Ethereum Virtual Machine.
According to Buterin, zkEVMs are currently considered “alpha-stage” from a security perspective, despite their performance characteristics already being suitable for production use.
Small portions of the network are expected to begin using zkEVM technology in 2026. Together with PeerDAS, these upgrades coincide with the period of rising Ethereum stablecoin transfer volume and increased network activity observed in late 2025.
