Business-to-business (B2B) stablecoin payments have surged to a $36 billion annualized run rate, according to a new report from analytics firm Artemis, co-authored by Castle Island Ventures and Dragonfly Capital.
From Niche to Norm: B2B Payments Are the Fastest-Growing Use Case
Historically associated with retail remittances and P2P transfers, stablecoins are now seeing explosive growth in enterprise use cases. The report revealed that B2B stablecoin volumes grew from under $100 million/month in early 2023 to over $3 billion/month by early 2025.
“The sharp acceleration in the second half of 2024 signaled stablecoins moving beyond experimentation into core financial operations for many businesses,” the report states.
Cross-Border SME Payments Drive Growth
According to Castle Island partner Nic Carter, the growth is largely driven by cross-border payments by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets. Use cases include:
- Vendor payments
- Collateral transfers
- Cross-border settlements
“Stablecoins aren’t replacing local currency—they’re replacing SWIFT,” the authors emphasized, calling the traditional banking system “slow, expensive, and inefficient.”
Tether and Tron Dominate B2B Transactions
- USDT (Tether) powers over 90% of all stablecoin transactions.
- Tron hosts 60% of stablecoin settlement volume, making it the top blockchain for B2B activity.
The average B2B transaction size is around $220,000 on Tron and Ethereum, compared to under $55,000 on Binance Smart Chain and Polygon.
Stablecoin Card Payments Also Climbing
The third-largest stablecoin segment after B2B and P2P is card-based payments, typically linked to blockchain wallets via prepaid or debit cards. Issuers such as Gnosis Pay and Exa saw volumes quadruple from $250M/month to $1B/month in 2024.
- Average card transaction size: Under $100
- Use case: Retail spending via blockchain-backed cards
Conclusion
Stablecoins are quickly becoming critical infrastructure for global business, especially in emerging markets. With B2B transactions outpacing all other segments, USDT and Tron remain at the forefront of this transformation.