Stablecoin-settled TradFi perpetual trading tops $1.1 trillion

Binance Research reported that stablecoin-settled perpetual contracts tied to traditional financial assets recorded more than $1.1 trillion in trading volume in the first half of 2026. Perpetual contracts are derivatives without a set expiry date that allow traders to hold leveraged positions; settling them in stablecoins keeps value linked to fiat-pegged tokens.

The report found stablecoins were used to settle about 11% of all crypto perpetual trading volume in the first five months of 2026, covering derivatives linked to stocks, currencies and other traditional financial instruments.

On the Binance exchange, 30% of users now hold more than half of their portfolios in stablecoins, up from 4% in 2020, the report found.

Global stablecoin market capitalization rose to about $311 billion, from roughly $254 billion a year earlier, according to data from DeFiLlama.

Transaction activity has grown alongside market value. Visa’s Allium dashboard showed adjusted stablecoin volume reached a record $1.79 trillion in June, exceeding the previous peak in February.

Regional payment use contributed to growth. Latin America’s share of stablecoin transfer users on Binance increased to 38% in 2026 from 17% in 2025, a change the report linked to demand for faster, lower-cost cross-border transfers. Data from Mexican exchange Bitso showed U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins made up 40% of crypto purchases on its platform in 2025, compared with Bitcoin’s 18%.

Established payment firms launched stablecoins in recent months. Western Union issued USDPT on the Solana network in May, and MoneyGram released MGUSD on the Stellar network in June for use in its consumer app.

Former Bybit executive Claudia Wang estimated in May that remittance corridors outside the U.S.-to-Mexico market could represent a $112 billion opportunity for stablecoin issuers.

The report identified three drivers for the growth: traders using stablecoins to settle TradFi-linked derivatives, retail and institutional users holding stablecoins as longer-term stores of value, and consumers in some regions using stablecoins for cross-border transfers.