Report: Institutional-led Ethereum stablecoins, with a payment to DeFi usage ratio close to 1:1

On December 21, according to a recent research report released by Artemis Analytics, the report conducted an empirical analysis of the actual payment uses of stablecoins on the Ethereum network, focusing on peer-to-peer (P2P), business-to-business (B2B), and person-to-business/business-to-person (P2B/B2P) payment activities. The study focuses on Ethereum because this chain carries about 52% of the global stablecoin supply, with USDT and USDC accounting for about 88% of the market share. The study points out: Stablecoin payments (transfers between EOA accounts) account for about 47% of the total stablecoin transfer volume (approximately 35% if excluding transfers between the same institution's internal accounts), indicating that on-chain stablecoins are not all used for trading or DeFi, but rather a large amount is used for payment scenarios. In terms of payment frequency, about 50% of stablecoin transactions are user-to-user payments (EOA-to-EOA), while the other half involves smart contracts (mainly DeFi). In terms of payment amount, payments from institutions or large accounts account for the vast majority, indicating that the value density of stablecoin payments is concentrated in large accounts. Stablecoin transfers on Ethereum are primarily driven by a small number of wallets, with the top 1000 wallets contributing approximately 84% of the total transaction volume, reflecting that payment activities are highly concentrated in the hands of large holders or institutions in terms of actual value.