Annual stablecoin transaction volume reached $46 trillion (about $9 trillion after adjustment), monthly active crypto wallet users climbed to 40 – 70 million, and blockchains now process over 3,400 transactions per second, according to Andreessen Horowitz’s State of Crypto report.
The firm on Wednesday said these milestones mark crypto’s transition “from adolescence to adulthood,” with the total market capitalization surpassing $4 trillion for the first time.
a16z said the 100-fold jump in blockchain throughput over five years and the rapid rise in stablecoin usage signal an industry that has matured into part of the global economy.
“Blockchains now process over 3,400 transactions per second … and at a fraction of historical cost,” the report noted. Stablecoins, once used mainly for trading, have become the backbone of on-chain finance.
Their $46 trillion total volume rivals Visa’s and PayPal’s combined networks, while the $9 trillion adjusted figure, stripped of bots and duplicates, is more than five times PayPal’s annual throughput.
The number of active crypto users rose by roughly 10 million year-on-year.
a16z estimates 716 million people now own crypto globally, though most remain passive holders—an untapped audience for on-chain builders.
Traditional institutions are deepening their involvement.
Visa, JPMorgan Chase, BlackRock, Fidelity, and PayPal are among those offering or developing crypto products, while fintechs such as Stripe and Robinhood are building their own blockchains focused on payments and stablecoins.
Regulatory momentum in the U.S., including passage of the bipartisan GENIUS Act, has also strengthened builder confidence.
Together with scaling advances and lower fees, a16z said these trends are bringing crypto closer to mainstream finance.
After seventeen years, the firm concluded, crypto is no longer an experiment: “The industry has left adolescence behind and entered adulthood.”