Stablecoin Transaction Volume Exceeded ACH Volume as of Feb 2026

According to NY-based analytics firm Artemis (which offers a "Bloomberg-style" terminal for crypto), stablecoin volume exceeded US Automated Clearing House volume for the first time in Feb 2026 (stablecoins: $7.2 trillion versus ACH network volume of $6.8 trillion).

Automated Clearing Houses are a backbone of the payments industry. The first automated clearing house was BACS (Bankers' Automated Clearing System) which started processing payments in April 1968. It operated from the start on a net settlement basis (to minimise the number of individual exchanges).

However, stablecoins don't use the ACH network and instead trade on crypto exchanges (centralised exchanges like Coinbase, Kraken, Binance), decentralised exchanges (Uniswap, Curve, Maverick) which settle on-chain using the native settlement mechanism of the relevant blockchain and brokers/OTC desks.

Despite the threat of stablecoins, ACHs still have an effective monopoly over salary payments.

Circle Announces Blockchain Plans

Circle Internet Group (NYSE:CRCL) has announced Arc, a Layer 1 blockchain designed around stablecoin finance. (Layer 1 blockchains refer to the foundation layer of a blockchain network, so-named to distinguish them from services built on top of blockchains e.g. Optimism (built on Ethereum).

Earlier moves included launch of the Circle Payments Network, enabling financial companies to use stablecoins for payment. It is billed as "a new standard for global money movement".

Circle has also been active in partnerships with the likes of Binance, OKX, FIS and Fiserv.

CRCL went public on June 5th 2025 with the IPO priced at $31 a share. JP, Citi and GS were joint lead active bookrunners for the IPO.

USD stablecoins have advantages over "pure" USD transfers as all you need is a crypto account to use it, potentially have lower fees for money transfers and can be integrated into DeFi infrastructure e.g. smart contracts.