Moody's 2026 Outlook: Stablecoins Will Become Core Market Infrastructure

According to Cointelegraph, Moody's latest cross-industry outlook report indicates that stablecoins are transitioning from crypto-native tools to the core of institutional market infrastructure.

The report released on Monday shows that, based on industry estimates of on-chain transactions (not merely interbank fund flows), the settlement volume of stablecoins is expected to grow by approximately 87% in 2025 compared to the previous year, reaching about $9 trillion. Moody's believes that fiat-collateralized stablecoins and tokenized deposits are becoming "digital cash" used for liquidity management, collateral transfer, and settlement in an increasingly tokenized financial system. Moody's places stablecoins alongside tokenized bonds, funds, and credit products, viewing them as part of the integration of traditional and digital finance.

In 2025, banks, asset management companies, and market infrastructure providers are set to launch blockchain settlement networks, tokenization platforms, and digital custody pilots to streamline issuance, post-trade processes, and intraday liquidity management. As enterprises build large-scale tokenized and programmable settlement infrastructure, the report estimates that by 2030, these initiatives will attract over $300 billion in investments in digital finance and infrastructure. In this landscape, stablecoins and tokenized deposits are increasingly becoming settlement assets for cross-border payments, repos, and collateral transfers.

Moody's emphasizes that for stablecoins to become reliable institutional settlement assets rather than a new source of systemic fragility, security, interoperability, and clarity in governance and regulation are equally important.