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Visa‘s latest report on stablecoin activities raises questions about its methodology and the implications of its findings. While the report suggests that only a small fraction of stablecoin transactions in April were “real” or “organic,” some argue that the criteria used may miss important use cases.
The report, prepared in collaboration with Visa and data firm Allium Labs, introduced a new metric that measures “organic payment activity” by filtering out bots and large-scale merchants. According to this metric, less than 10% of stablecoin transactions in April were deemed to have been initiated by individuals.
This finding challenges the narrative of widespread adoption of stablecoins, especially in regions where users seek refuge from inflation and capital controls. Despite this, stablecoins like Tether and Circle’s USDC have attracted significant interest, with Tether alone generating $4.5 billion in profits in the first quarter of the year.
But some experts question the validity of Visa’s approach. Austin Campbell, an assistant professor at Columbia Business School, criticizes Visa’s focus on excluding commercial activities from its analysis. He argues that trading is a fundamental aspect of crypto usage and suggests that Visa’s narrow view may not fully capture the benefit of stablecoins.
Additionally, the report’s methodology, which excludes transactions from accounts with more than 1,000 stablecoin transactions and more than $10 million in transfer volume, may miss legitimate use cases, such as transactions involving centralized exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase.
While Visa’s interest in understanding stablecoin adoption is understandable given its position as a payments company, critics like Campbell suggest the company’s perspective may be too limited. Understanding the broader ecosystem of stablecoin usage, including trading activities and exchange-based transactions, is crucial to a comprehensive understanding of its impacts.
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