Recent data from the industry demonstrates that developers are increasingly relying on stablecoins and stringent business frameworks as blockchain studios adapt to the current cooling of the market.
Stablecoins are increasingly becoming the fundamental support of economies within blockchain gaming. Recent industry research indicates that fiat-pegged tokens are being relied upon more frequently by developers to manage payouts, rewards, and inter-game transactions as they transition away from speculative economic structures.
An estimated $27.6 trillion in transfer volume was processed by stablecoins in 2024. This magnitude, as emphasized by the 2025 report from the Blockchain Game Alliance, currently surpasses the total combined transaction volumes of both Visa and Mastercard.
More generally, they are responsible for approximately 30% of all cryptocurrency transactions, with USDC and USDT representing over 90% of the total fiat-backed supply, according to the findings in the report.
The report further indicated that confidence within this sector, which severely diminished in 2024 when the wider cryptocurrency market contracted, has initiated a recovery in what is termed a “corrective phase.” Heading into 2026, 65.8% of surveyed respondents are expressing optimism.
Blockchain Game Studios Tighten Operations as Growth Cools
This transition is occurring as studios focused on blockchain gaming encounter a decelerating market and aim to restructure their operations around more rigorous, revenue-focused models and predictable settlement infrastructure.
Stablecoins “simplify the payment experience for the player by enabling borderless, low-fee, and rapid transactions without the risk of volatility exposure,” as stated in the report. It further notes that these assets are evolving into a practical core for programmable economies and routine in-game purchases.
One such element is identified as “end-to-end user experience fragmentation,” according to Matt Aaron, co-founder of Cielo, which is a multichain wallet analytics and tracking platform, as he conveyed to.
“Even if stablecoins are settled rapidly, users still encounter difficulties when acquiring, storing, sending, or converting them back to fiat,” he stated. He added, “This is made even more challenging across disparate chains such as Base and Solana, because the identical stablecoin exists within distinct ecosystems and frequently necessitates additional steps or bridging.”
Game developers will need to enhance the abstraction for those on-chain transactional flows, Aaron further commented.
“Until that full workflow becomes invisible to the user, stablecoins cannot function as a universal settlement layer across game titles,”
he said.
Scarce Capital and Changing Regulations
The industry of blockchain gaming is also shifting away from its speculative origins and entering a more rigorous phase, as the report asserts. This transition is being reflected by the manner in which studios are adapting to the evolving conditions of the market.
The scarcity of capital has compelled game developers “to elevate product excellence, verifiable player interest, sustainable revenue structures, and operational rigor above immediate financial engineering,” according to the statement in the report.
This particular transition is fundamentally propelled by regulatory advancements in the United States, where initial signals and policy discussions have motivated other jurisdictions, including nations in Asia, to formally establish their own frameworks for stablecoins.
The report references Singapore, which, in November, established a formal regulatory system for stablecoins denominated in a single currency. This system imposes redemption and capital requirements while interoperability pilot programs are being conducted with domestic banking institutions.
In Japan, regulations have been prepared by the Financial Services Agency that would necessitate cryptocurrency exchanges to maintain specific liability reserves for any losses resulting from security breaches. Additionally, these rules would eliminate the current exemption for cold wallets and harmonize their treatment more closely with that applied to conventional securities brokerages.
A stablecoin framework has also been sustained by Japan, which limits the issuance of yen-denominated stablecoins to fully collateralized instruments that are presented by licensed banking institutions and other regulated intermediaries. Major financial institutions are already piloting their distinct models within this framework.
Meanwhile, a licensing system has been established by Hong Kong for issuers referencing fiat currency. This system defines the standards for security controls, reserves, and guarantees for redemption.
Further to the West, payment token regulations have been issued by the UAE’s central bank as cross-border settlement systems and government payment trials are being piloted. This week, major licenses were granted to Binance, Tether, and Circle.
