Orbital, a global payment orchestration platform across stablecoins and traditional payment rails, today released its inaugural Stablecoins Retail Payments Index. The Index offers a comprehensive view of how stablecoins are actually being used in retail payment contexts, focusing on consumer payments (up to $10,000 in value).
The Index is built on data from the Orbital Stablecoin Payments Dashboard, with blockchain data sourced in partnership with Artemis.xyz, a leading blockchain data provider, and mobile app data provided by Sensor Tower. It measures how stablecoins are being used in retail payment contexts by filtering out large business-to-business payments, cross-border money transfers, and other non-retail stablecoin use.
The snapshot, from Q2 2025, highlights the distinct use that stablecoins are carving out in retail payments, particularly in cross-border and where speed and cost matter most.
Key findings
Binance Smart Chain becomes leading blockchain for consumer-sized payments
Retail payments have seen a shift, with data showing Binance Smart Chain leading in transaction volumes for the first time. BSC is now used for almost half of retail payments: 45 percent.
Networks offering lower transaction costs, such as TRON and BSC, have been major drivers of stablecoin adoption. Aptos is now also showing notable growth, positioning it as a “chain to watch”.
USDT leads, USDC is rising, and a potential challenger emerges
USDC is the most popular token in DeFi, now controlling more than 50 percent of the market. This is not the case in retail payments, where USDT is dominant — the volume of USDT is more than four times that of USDC. In recent months, however, USDC has seen faster growth than USDT in retail-sized payments.
There is a potential challenger. USD1 showed a 757 percent increase in retail transaction volume from May to June, and accounted for around six percent of all wallet-to-wallet transfers in June.
Time zone analysis shows that this coin seems to be mostly used outside of the Americas.
Stablecoin premiums are an indicator of shadow FX rates
The cost of buying USDT and USD varies, with some markets having a significant premium on USDT bought and sold. This is an indication of the “shadow FX” market in these countries, and how they differ from the official rate.
In Venezuela, retail users are typically paying 45% more than the official market rate to buy USDT. Other notable countries with a stablecoin premium include Turkey, South Africa and Saudi Arabia.
“Stablecoins have quickly become a big part of our economy, a convenient and fast way to move money around, with over $250 billion in circulation today. What’s less clear is how and where stablecoins are used for everyday retail-sized transactions,” said Luke Wingfield Digby, Co-Founder & Head of Corporate Development, Orbital. “Questions are often asked on whether stablecoins will be part of people’s everyday experience of money, replacing or complementing the payments we make today. The answer to that question may be some way away, but Orbital’s Stablecoins Retail Payments Index gives us insight into today’s trends and where this market may be heading.”