Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has revealed that a significant transfer of wealth over the next two decades could transform the way global payments are made, with stablecoins likely to play a central role in this change for the broader crypto sector.
In a new blog post, the company projects that between 2028 and 2048 as much as $100 trillion could pass from “Baby Boomers” to “Millennials” and “Generation Z, groups that are far more likely to view crypto as a standard part of their financial lives.
That demographic and capital movement, Chainalysis argues, will drive an enormous increase in on‑chain stablecoin activity and accelerate adoption of crypto payment rails.
Why Chainalysis Predicts Stablecoin SurgeMillennials and Gen Z — groups among whom nearly half have at some point held cryptocurrency — are expected to become the dominant economic actors, gradually replacing Generation X and Boomers in influence and purchasing power.
Beyond direct wealth transfers, Chainalysis highlights point‑of‑sale (POS) adoption as a second major driver. The firm estimates that POS saturation of stablecoin rails could contribute as much as $232 trillion in annual stablecoin volume by 2035.
Crypto Transactions Could Match Visa And MastercardIf current trends in transaction growth continue, Chainalysis says on‑chain stablecoin transactions could reach parity with the off‑chain transaction counts of Visa and Mastercard sometime in the 2031–2039 window.
As consumers evaluate payment options, they are likely to compare crypto rails with traditional systems on familiar metrics — fees, settlement times, and rewards — and stablecoin‑linked cards and services could compete directly with legacy providers.
The firm argues that, for banks and payments companies, the choice is becoming binary: build infrastructure and partnerships to capture flows from crypto‑native customers or risk ceding transactions to alternative rails operated by others.
Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com
