Bitcoin & Stablecoins: Challenging Visa & Mastercard in Global Payments?

Bitcoin and Stablecoins Reshaping the Global Payments Landscape

The global payments arena is undergoing a significant transformation as Bitcoin (BTC) and US dollar-pegged stablecoins emerge as compelling alternatives to traditional payment systems. These digital assets offer a novel approach to transferring value across borders, bypassing the need for conventional banking and credit card networks.

Bitcoin Settlement Volume Rivals Payment Giants

According to a report by Glassnode, a blockchain data platform, the Bitcoin network settled $6.9 trillion worth of payments over the past 90 days. This figure puts Bitcoin on par with or even above industry behemoths like Visa and Mastercard.

For comparison, Visa processed $4.25 trillion in payment volume, and Mastercard $2.63 trillion during the same period, totaling $6.88 trillion.

Glassnode stated on X: "Activity is migrating off-chain as flows move to #ETFs and brokers, but Bitcoin and #stablecoins continue to dominate on-chain settlement."

Bitcoin's Economic Settlement Still Relatively Small

After stripping out internal transfers between addresses controlled by the same entity, Bitcoin's "economic" settlement is closer to $870 billion per quarter, or approximately $7.8 billion per day, according to Glassnode estimates. However, the firm asserts that these numbers still demonstrate Bitcoin's burgeoning role as a "globally relevant settlement network, bridging both institutional and retail transaction flows."

This figure remains dwarfed by Visa's $39.7 billion daily average transaction volume, or Mastercard's $26.2 billion, the lion's share of which is used for consumer retail spending and everyday needs.

In contrast, Bitcoin's settlement volume is primarily attributed to trading, remittances, and store-of-value investment, as global merchant adoption remains limited. Worldwide, only 20,599 merchants accept Bitcoin payments according to BTCmap, compared to Visa's 175 million global merchant locations.

Stablecoins Moving $225 Billion Daily, but Mostly Bots

Stablecoins are emerging as another global value transfer alternative, thanks to their fixed price, low transaction fees, and 24/7 availability.

Stablecoins are now moving an average value of $225 billion per day, based on the 30-day moving average of aggregate transfer volume for the top five stablecoins calculated by Glassnode.

However, roughly 70% of the $15.6 trillion in stablecoin transfers during the third quarter of 2025 were linked to automated trading bots, rather than organic activity.

According to a research report from crypto exchange CEX.io, organic non-bot activity accounted for only about 20% of the total, while the remaining 9% was attributed to internal smart contract transfers and internal exchange transactions.

The exchange's researchers emphasized that it was "crucial" to distinguish between organic and bot activity in order for policymakers to accurately assess systemic risks and the real-world adoption of stablecoin payments.