Stablecoins move over $400 million per hour on average as off-hours transfers dominate, Coinbase and The Block study finds

Stablecoin payment activity is running at more than $400 million per hour on average, according to a joint study from Coinbase and The Block Pro Research. The report, “The Always-On Dollar,” said organic stablecoin transfer activity crossed that hourly threshold in the third quarter, with most flows occurring when U.S. banks are closed.

Over the 12 months through July 31, about 73% of stablecoin transfers happened outside U.S. banking hours, the study found. The authors argue that around-the-clock settlement can make working capital more efficient: faster settlement reduces payment delays and the need to pre-fund accounts, freeing cash for operations or investment. For consumers, the report estimated that sending a $200 remittance in USDC on Base is roughly 86% cheaper than using traditional payment rails, a saving that could matter for migrant workers.

Adjusted stablecoin transaction volume has quadrupled since early 2023 and reached $891 billion in Q3. At current growth rates, the report projects quarterly adjusted transfer volume could hit $1.5 trillion by the end of 2027. It also estimated that shifting 80% of international transactions to stablecoin rails could add $155 billion to annual global GDP.

The study counted 293 million unique blockchain addresses holding stablecoins, more than the combined cardholder bases of American Express and Discover and nearly double the combined mobile banking users of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citi. It cautioned that addresses do not necessarily map to individual users. Institutional interest is rising: seven of the ten largest U.S. banks have tested stablecoins or tokenized deposits for settlement, and the other three have signaled plans to do so.

AI-agent payments

The report also predicts stablecoins will become a payment rail for AI agents. McKinsey data cited in the study projects $3 trillion to $5 trillion of global business-to-consumer commerce will be mediated by AI agents by 2030. Stablecoins, the report argues, would allow agents to pay each other, buy API calls or purchase small amounts of data or compute on demand without subscriptions or billing accounts.