Nearly 60% of stablecoin activity is complex finance, not simple payments

A new study shows that most transfers of digital tokens designed to hold a stable value (stablecoins) are not simple payments. Instead, nearly 60% of these transactions are complex bundles of trading, lending, and other financial activities.

Financial regulators and analysts have largely treated stablecoin transfers as simple payments. This paper shows that assumption misses most of the actual activity, which is complex financial engineering. It means anyone assessing the risks or economic impact of these digital tokens must look beyond basic transfers and into the bundled transactions.