Who holds stablecoins? New evidence on euro area consumer holdings

Prepared by Alexandra Born, Johanne Evrard, Dimitris Georgarakos, Geoff Kenny, Claudia Lambert, Justus Meyer, Trixi Pairan and Luca Zannier The expanding stablecoin market, its increasing interlinkages with the financial sector and growing consumer holdings could affect financial stability in the euro area.The global stablecoin market has grown rapidly since 2020 but has recently plateaued (Chart A, panel a). At the same time, stablecoins have become increasingly interlinked with the traditional financial sector, particularly through reserve asset holdings.[1]While the euro-denominated stablecoin market has grown, it remains relatively small (Chart A, panel b). Stablecoins are mainly used for crypto trading, although they could potentially also serve as cross-border payment instruments. This box uses unique household-level evidence from a topical module of the ECB’s Consumer Expectations Survey (CES), carried out in August and November 2025, to assess the extent and composition of euro area consumers’ stablecoin holdings.[2]Current exposures in the euro area appear limited, but the concentration of holdings among crypto investors and the prominence of US dollar-backed tokens could amplify shocks. Wider stablecoin use in the euro area, especially outside the crypto ecosystem, could increase the risks to traditional finance over time.[3] a) Size of US dollar-denominated stablecoins in the crypto-asset ecosystem b) Market capitalisation of MiCAR-authorised euro-denominated stablecoins Sources: CoinDesk, CoinMarketCap and ECB calculations.Notes: Market capitalisation is based on the circulating supply of stablecoins. This includes EURC, EURCV, EURAU, EURØP, EURR, EURI, EURe and EURQ. Fluctuations in the share of stablecoins in total crypto market capitalisation are driven mainly by changes in the valuation of other crypto-assets. The latest observations are for September 2026. The use of stablecoins to facilitate transactions in the crypto ecosystem may carry a risk for consumers, as it could affect the traditional financial system.[4]Stablecoins enable the trading and exchange of fiat currencies for non-stablecoin crypto-assets and vice versa.[5]The reserve assets that back stablecoins link them to the traditional financial system, which can potentially lead to spillover effects.[6]Stablecoins may also enable low-cost cross-border payments, which could be an option for consumers sending money outside the euro area, though evidence on this use case is mixed.[7] Euro area consumers are slowly increasing their direct exposure to crypto-assets, from low levels.[8]The share of consumers owning crypto-assets increased from 9.8% in November 2024 to 13% in August 2025 (Chart B, panel a), a period in which crypto markets and stablecoins were growing rapidly (Chart A). The 2025 CES results distinguish stablecoin holdings within consumer crypto-asset exposures: in August 5% of consumers reported holding stablecoins, which was over a third of all consumers that held crypto-assets. The estimated distribution of stablecoin holdings in terms of amounts invested is skewed towards smaller amounts (Chart B, panel b). However, close to 10% of stablecoin owners are estimated to have had holdings of €10,000 or more in November, pointing to a substantial range. (percentages of consumers with stablecoin holdings) Sources: ECB Consumer Expectations Survey and ECB calculations.Notes: Population-weighted data from 11 euro area countries. Panel a): experimental data from the August 2025 CES topical module. Consumers were asked: “Do you or any members of your household currently own crypto-assets?”, and as a separate follow-up: “Which of the following do you or someone of your household currently own?” Panel b): experimental data from the November 2025 CES topical module. Consumers who reported any investment in crypto-assets (including stablecoins) were asked: “To the best of your knowledge, what is the main type of crypto-assets you and your household currently own?” and could choose on a five-point scale from “fully invested in crypto-assets other than stablecoins” to “fully invested in stablecoins”. We assign weights in 0.25 steps, ranging from 0 (only crypto other than stablecoins) to 1 (only stablecoins) and calculate the stablecoin investment on the basis of self-reported crypto investments. Dollar-denominated stablecoins dominate euro area consumer exposure, as consumers tend to hold the crypto-assets with the largest market capitalisation.Around 63% of consumers with a crypto exposure hold bitcoin, followed by ether (36%) and XRP (22%) (Chart C, panel a). Among stablecoins, USDT is the most widely held (17% of consumers with crypto holdings), ahead of USDC (12%) and the euro-denominated EURC (10%). Other euro-denominated and non-euro-denominated stablecoins combined account for less than 9% of reported holdings. Although the survey does not directly report how assets are used, preliminary evidence shows higher usage among respondents born either in another EU country or outside the EU. Foreign-born respondents were found to be 2.1 percentage points more likely to hold stablecoins than domestic consumers after taking into account other characteristics. This pattern is consistent with the possibility that stablecoins are being used for cross-border payments or remittances. a) Composition of crypto-asset and stablecoin investments (percentages of consumers with crypto-asset holdings) Sources: ECB Consumer Expectations Survey and ECB calculations.Notes: Data from 11 euro area countries. Panel a): experimental data from the August 2025 CES topical module. The panel shows the types of crypto-asset and stablecoin held by respondents who reported owning crypto-assets. Given the small percentage of respondents that owned crypto-assets, observations are also limited (1,286 respondents). As respondents could select multiple assets, shares do not add up to 100%. “Other” captures holdings not listed separately in the questionnaire. Panel b): experimental data from the November 2025 CES topical module. The panel shows average stablecoin portfolio shares based on the estimated amounts shown in Chart B, panel b and the total value of consumers’ financial assets (e.g. in bank accounts, stocks and mutual funds). Estimates are weighted using population weights. The use of stablecoins as transactional assets could have broader implications for financial stability if adoption continues to grow.Stablecoins account for a small share of consumers’ financial assets and are mostly held alongside other crypto-assets. This is consistent with their main use as transactional assets within the crypto-asset ecosystem (Chart C). While the relatively low usage of stablecoins in the euro area limits immediate risks to bank funding, it points to three vulnerabilities for the future if stablecoins were to become significantly more widely used: (i) exposure to runs on stablecoins and “de-pegging” events, when stablecoins deviate significantly from their par value; (ii) potential spillovers from a liquidation of US dollar stablecoin reserves; and (iii) a possible currency substitution channel. If the use of dollar-denominated stablecoins by euro area consumers begins to extend beyond crypto-asset transactions, their holdings of non-euro stablecoins could grow. Depending on the scale of adoption, this could affect deposit funding, monetary transmission and the role of euro-denominated payment instruments.[9]Given the importance of stablecoins in the crypto ecosystem, a large shock to a stablecoin (e.g. a de-pegging event) could be detrimental.[10]As most stablecoin holders also own other crypto-assets, their wider portfolio would be affected. Conversely, an adverse shock to crypto-asset prices could trigger a stablecoin sell-off, potentially de-pegging stablecoins and causing additional wealth effects. The dual holdings suggest that stablecoin usage acts as a two-way channel between crypto-assets and investor