Ethereum Leads Stablecoin and RWA Tokenization With Record Transfer Volumes

TL;DR

• Ethereum’s stablecoin transfer volume topped $8 trillion in Q4 2025, nearly doubling Q2’s just-over $4 trillion, per Token Terminal.
• Stablecoin issuance on Ethereum rose about 43% in 2025, from $127 billion to roughly $181 billion, supporting the payments narrative.
• Activity rose alongside scale: 2.23 million daily transactions, 10.4 million monthly active addresses, plus Ethereum leading RWA value share at 65% (over 70% with L2/EVM).

Ethereum tightened its grip on on-chain settlement in Q4 2025 as stablecoin transfer volume on the network surpassed $8 trillion, based on Token Terminal data. That spike, a new all-time high, was nearly double the just-over $4 trillion recorded in Q2, sharpening questions about whether the flow reflects speculation or utility. The mix looks closer to payments: rising volumes and address activity suggest real use rather than speculative trading. Ethereum has a growing role as a settlement layer for digital dollars globally.

BREAKING: The stablecoin transfer volume on @ethereum surpassed $8 trillion in Q4, marking a new all-time high. pic.twitter.com/CzXBO9bt0W

— Token Terminal 📊 (@tokenterminal) January 4, 2026

Stablecoin and RWA Momentum

Supply growth was central to the story. Blockworks data shows Ethereum-based stablecoin issuance increased about 43% in 2025, rising from $127 billion to roughly $181 billion by year end. That expansion, a bigger base of digital dollars, supports the idea that the quarter’s transfer surge was not just traders churning liquidity. One analyst described the trend as “global payments happening on-chain” and argued institutional integrations are still waiting in the wings, which could add demand. The same data links supply expansion with the quarter’s transfer totals.

Network usage climbed in tandem with the monetary layer. Etherscan data says daily transactions hit a record 2.23 million in late December, a 48% increase compared with a year earlier. Token Terminal reported monthly active addresses peaking at 10.4 million in December, while daily unique sending and receiving addresses surpassed one million toward month end. Together these signals, more distinct users moving value, reinforce the narrative that activity broadened as transfer totals surged. This on-chain momentum persisted through late December. Address metrics echoed that breadth across users.

Ethereum’s leadership extended beyond stablecoins into tokenized real-world assets. RWA.xyz in says Ethereum accounts for roughly 65% of total on-chain RWA value, estimated around $19 billion; including layer-2 networks and other EVM-compatible chains pushes that share above 70%. In stablecoins, Ethereum holds about 57% of issuance versus Tron’s 27%. Tether leads overall at roughly $187 billion in circulation, with more than half residing on Ethereum, underscoring why the chain remains the leading venue for stablecoins and RWA tokenization, across the broader EVM ecosystem overall.