Ethereum Q4 stablecoin trading volume surpasses $8 trillion, nearly doubling compared to Q2

In Q4 2025, Ethereum stablecoin trading volume hit a record high. According to Token Terminal data, the total on-chain stablecoin trading volume on Ethereum for the quarter first surpassed $8 trillion, nearly doubling from approximately $4 trillion in Q2, further solidifying Ethereum’s position as the core infrastructure for global digital dollar settlement.

Alongside the surge in trading volume, the supply of Ethereum stablecoins also maintained steady growth. Data shows that in 2025, the total issuance of on-chain stablecoins on Ethereum increased by approximately 43% year-over-year, rising from $127 billion at the beginning of the year to about $181 billion. This “volume and price increase” structure indicates that the growth of stablecoins is driven more by genuine payment and settlement needs rather than short-term speculation.

Several market participants pointed out that this trend reflects the gradual formation of a global on-chain payment network. An analyst on social media stated that the explosive growth in Ethereum stablecoin transactions is a direct result of the ongoing implementation of cross-border settlements, institutional payments, and on-chain financial activities, though large-scale institutional integration is still in its early stages.

From network usage data, overall activity on Ethereum also reached new records. Etherscan data shows that by the end of December 2025, the highest single-day transaction count on Ethereum reached 2.23 million, a 48% increase year-over-year. Token Terminal further noted that the peak number of active addresses in December reached 10.4 million, with daily unique senders and receivers exceeding 1 million each.

Beyond stablecoins, Ethereum continues to dominate the real-world asset tokenization market. RWA.xyz estimates that the total value of RWA on Ethereum is approximately $19 billion, accounting for about 65% of the entire market; including Layer-2 and other EVM-compatible networks, the proportion exceeds 70%. In terms of stablecoin issuance, Ethereum still leads with about 57% market share, significantly higher than Tron’s 27%, with USDT remaining the largest stablecoin, and over half of its circulating supply deployed on Ethereum.

Meanwhile, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin announced that Ethereum has “solved the blockchain trilemma” through practical code implementation. He pointed out that PeerDAS and the upcoming gradual introduction of zkEVM have enabled Ethereum to achieve a substantial breakthrough in decentralization, security, and scalability, laying a technological foundation for the long-term growth of stablecoin payments and on-chain settlements.