Crypto: $2.1 trillion evaporated, on-chain economy only loses 1.6%

Prices are collapsing, but usage remains steady. Between July 2025 and June 2026, the total market capitalization of crypto was halved, amounting to $2.1 trillion evaporated. However, the ecosystem was far from dead. A recent study by Chainalysis estimates the decline in economic activity at only 1.6%.

The most severe bear market since 2022 has thus washed out valuations without erasing usage and value flows.

Key Points

• Economic activity in crypto measured by Chainalysis reaches $9.4 trillion, down only 1.6% despite a halved market capitalization.
• Domestic peer-to-peer transfers surged by 302.9% to $228.7 billion, while cross-border flows in stablecoins increased by 77.5% to $220.3 billion.
• The share of stablecoins in on-chain stored value has doubled, rising from 11% to nearly 25% between September 2025 and June 2026.
• Brazil ranks fifth globally in the adoption index with $318.8 billion received, while India retains the top spot.

Crypto: Stablecoins hold steady during the downturn

In its seventh edition of the annual report Geography of Cryptocurrency, Chainalysis reviews on-chain activities between July 2025 and June 2026. In total, the company recorded economic activity of $9.4 trillion over the past twelve months, compared to $9.5 trillion a year earlier.

Meanwhile, the total market capitalization of crypto has been halved, recording a difference of $2.1 trillion between the two years. A hundred billion dollars vanished from one side of the balance sheet, twenty times more from the other.

However, when looking at each subsector, not all have had an equal year. Indeed, the amounts directed towards exchanges, DeFi protocols, and other crypto services decreased by 4.3%. In contrast, domestic peer-to-peer transfers surged by 302.9%, reaching $228.7 billion. These transfers circulate directly from one wallet to another, between individuals in the same country, without an intermediary platform.

As for cross-border flows in stablecoins, they increased by 77.5%, rising from $124.2 billion to $220.3 billion. It is worth noting that Chainalysis presents this measure as deliberately cautious. Indeed, its methodology excludes all transfers where the sending and receiving countries cannot be identified with certainty. The actual figure is therefore likely higher.

According to analysts, the key to understanding lies in the average amounts of these payments.

<< This cross-border growth comes from payments with an average amount around $3,000: a transaction size far too small to be institutional. It corresponds instead to everyday uses: a person paying a supplier, sending money home, or withdrawing savings from a currency they no longer trust. >> Chainalysis, annual report << Geography of Cryptocurrency >>

Unsurprisingly, stablecoins seem to be faring well. The total funds held in stablecoins by what appears to be individuals (excluding DeFi deposits, institutional wallets, etc.) have remained relatively stable between $98 billion and $109 billion. Their relative weight in the overall value stored on blockchains has more than doubled, rising from 11% to nearly 25%.

This shift towards tokenized dollars is supported by a now-established regulatory framework. The GENIUS Act, enacted in the United States in the summer of 2025, has provided payment stablecoins with a federal regime backed by reserves and mandatory audits. The European MiCA regulation imposes its own requirements on issuers since late 2024.

Crypto Adoption: Brazil fifth globally, India retains the crown

Chainalysis accompanies its report with a global adoption index, built on the basis of four sub-indices: activity on centralized services, retail transactions, DeFi usage, and institutional transfers. India retains the top spot, ahead of the United States, Pakistan, and Vietnam. The country maintains this dominance despite having one of the most hostile tax regimes in the world, with a 30% tax on capital gains and a 1% withholding tax on each transaction.

Brazil ranks fifth globally and leads Latin America with $318.8 billion in crypto value received. The country captures nearly one-third of the amounts in the region, with activity growing by 63% over the period. The Brazilian central bank has regulated operations on stablecoins and transfers to self-hosted wallets with rules that came into effect in early 2026, without slowing down volumes.

Argentina completes the regional podium with $93.9 billion received. The country remains a real-world laboratory for dollarization through stablecoins, with USDT and USDC serving for years as substitutes for the peso for household savings and transactions between merchants.

The $8.9 trillion still transiting through exchanges and DeFi weighs twenty times the combined peer-to-peer flows and cross-border payments in stablecoins. However, these two channels show the only upward curves in the report, with three-digit growth for the former and double-digit growth for the latter, while the market capitalization lost half its value.

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