We have been tracking stablecoin payment volumes across our client base for three years. The numbers from 2023 represent a genuine inflection point that we think has not yet been widely appreciated in the payments industry.
The Data
Across 28 KomiKey clients who accept both native crypto (BTC, ETH) and stablecoins (USDC, USDT, EURC), stablecoin transactions accounted for 61% of all crypto payment volume in 2023 by transaction count, and 74% by value. In 2021, those numbers were 18% and 29% respectively.
This is not a niche trend. Stablecoins are becoming the dominant form of crypto commerce.
Why Businesses Prefer Stablecoins for B2B
The reason is obvious once you understand how treasury teams think. A CFO approving a $2M software contract does not want exposure to Bitcoin volatility during the settlement window. Paying in USDC means the amount they approve is the amount that arrives, with no FX risk on a crypto leg.
For cross-border B2B transactions, USDC on Ethereum or Polygon is now genuinely competitive with SWIFT in terms of settlement certainty, and dramatically faster and cheaper. We have clients running weekly payroll cycles for contractors across 15 countries entirely in USDC, settling in minutes for less than $2 per transaction.
EURC: The Underrated Option for European Businesses
Circle launched EURC in 2023 and we have seen meaningful uptake among European clients who want stablecoin payment rails but need to remain in euros for accounting and VAT purposes. The regulatory clarity around e-money tokens under MiCA makes EURC particularly attractive for regulated businesses. We expect EURC volume to grow significantly through 2025.
The Infrastructure Challenge
Stablecoin payments sound simple — send USDC, receive USDC — but the infrastructure complexity is underestimated. You need to handle: token contract address verification (scam tokens with similar names are common), gas fee management for the recipient (users often have USDC but no ETH for gas), multi-chain routing (which network is the sender on?), and fiat off-ramp for when your treasury wants to convert to GBP or EUR.
We have solved each of these for our clients. If you are evaluating stablecoin payment integration, we are happy to walk through the architecture. Get in touch.
James Hart is CEO of KomiKey Technologies.