Stablecoin Surge Overtakes CBDC Development as Global Digital Currency Landscape Shifts

For much of the past decade, central banks have commissioned feasibility studies and launched pilot programmes for digital currencies. However, despite the progress made, the implementation of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) remains a complex issue.

Today, with 146 countries representing 98% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) exploring or developing CBDCs, the question is no longer whether sovereign digital money will emerge but what institutional form it will take and whose economic interests it will serve.

The emergence of privately issued stablecoins has transformed the architecture of global payments. Stablecoin transaction volume rose 83% between July 2024 and July 2025, reaching over $4 trillion in the first half of 2025 alone, accounting for 30% of all on-chain crypto transactions.