Stablecoins now move $400 million an hour, and 73% of screened volume moves while US banks are closed, a Coinbase-backed study finds

Stablecoins do most of their work when banks are shut. A study by Coinbase and The Block Pro Research, "The Always-On Dollar," found that stablecoins moved more than $400 million an hour on average in organic transfers in the third quarter of 2026, and that adjusted volume for the quarter reached $891 billion, roughly four times the start of 2023. Coinbase commissioned the research and The Block's research arm carried it out, per Cointelegraph.

About 73% of screened transfer volume in the 12 months ending July 31 happened outside US banking hours, the study found. Its authors say faster settlement can cut delays and the need to pre-fund payment accounts.

The adoption figures come with caveats. The study counts 293 million blockchain addresses holding stablecoins, noting that an address is not necessarily a person, and says seven of the 10 largest US banks have tested stablecoins or tokenized deposits for settlement, without naming them. Cointelegraph reported that 30% of mid-market companies doing cross-border business use or are piloting stablecoins, up from 10% in 2024.

Some numbers are projections. The study estimates quarterly volume could reach $1.5 trillion by the end of 2027 at current growth rates, per The Block. The total market value of stablecoins was about $301 billion on Tuesday, slightly below a year earlier, per DefiLlama data cited by Cointelegraph.