Key Takeaways:
- Stablecoins now represent 43% of Solana’s ecosystem TVL.
- USDG and PYUSD show rapid growth, signaling strong institutional adoption.
- High transaction velocity and retail-focused transfers position Solana for mainstream payments.
- Solana’s expanding TVL and new entrants could drive significant market growth.
Institutional Stablecoins Are Shaping Solana Ecosystem
Solana’s blockchain is witnessing a surge in institutional stablecoins, positioning the network as a hub for crypto-native payments and retail adoption. From December 2023 to 2025, Solana’s total value locked (TVL) skyrocketed from $3B to $35B, outpacing its fully diluted valuation (FDV) growth. Stablecoins now dominate the ecosystem, accounting for $13.45B—or 43.2% of total TVL—highlighting their critical role in driving user activity and liquidity.
Also Read: How Stablecoin Quietly Rebuilt the Global Financial System
USDG and PYUSD: Institutional Powerhouses
Two major institutional stablecoins, USDG and PYUSD, are rapidly expanding on Solana. USDG, issued by Paxos for the Global Dollar Network, now holds $655M in circulation, while PYUSD for PayPal has reached $1B. Both tokens enable partner platforms to earn yield on treasury reserves, sharing benefits with users. Notably, PYUSD grew from $170M to $1B in under a year, mirroring the early success trajectories of crypto-native stablecoins like USDS and USDe.
Despite this growth, both remain in the early stages. USDG is held by 7,203 unique addresses, and PYUSD by 45,790—small compared to the millions of accounts on Robinhood and PayPal. If these issuers fully leverage their institutional reach, they could pivot Solana’s ecosystem from primarily speculative trading to mainstream payment applications.
Solana Leads in Stablecoin Activity
Solana is now the most active chain for USDC transfers by user count, with 4M monthly senders—more than Ethereum or Base. Transfer volumes remain smaller per transaction, averaging $2.4K, compared to $21.9K on Base and $99.6K on Ethereum. This indicates a high velocity of stablecoins, with frequent, lower-value transfers dominating the network. Solana’s user base and transaction profile make it an ideal platform for retail payments and emerging tokenized real-world asset (RWA) use cases.
Also Read: Solana Bold Vision: Every Asset, Every Version
Growth Potential and Market Dynamics
With stablecoins driving nearly half of the ecosystem’s TVL and usage patterns favoring frequent transactions, Solana has strong growth potential. If the network’s TVL continues to scale and more institutional issuers enter the market, the FDV-to-TVL ratio could move closer to Ethereum’s, pushing SOL valuations higher. Institutional stablecoins like USDG and PYUSD are not only challenging incumbents such as USDC and USDT but are also expanding the network’s utility beyond speculative trading.
Institutional stablecoins are transforming Solana from a high-speed trading platform into a payments and real-world asset ecosystem, signaling a broader shift in crypto adoption.
