Local stablecoins are growing six times faster than USD- stablecoins, but the gap remains enormous

The stablecoin market is dominated by assets pegged to the dollar. A $276B supply versus $1.7B for all local stablecoins combined.
That’s a 162-fold difference, but local stablecoins are just getting started.
But here’s what the supply chart doesn’t show: local stablecoins have grown by +150% YoY, while USD-pegged stablecoins have grown by only +24%. That’s six times faster growth from a small base.
Why is this important?
The narrative surrounding stablecoins has always been “dollar dominance is here to stay.” And structurally, this is still true, USDT and USDC remain the primary rails for payments and beyond.
But the +150% signal indicates that something is shifting on the periphery. Regulatory pressure in the EU ( MiCA ), demand for local settlements in emerging markets, and new infrastructure projects focused on non-USD corridors are quietly gaining momentum.
The fastest-growing local stablecoins in 2025–2026 are A7A5 ( demand from sanctioned jurisdictions / I strongly advise against using this stablecoin ), ZCHF ( Swiss franc, DeFi-native ), and EURC ( euro, MiCA-compliant ).
These are not competitors to USDT or USDC - they fill niches that USDT and USDC cannot serve, either legally or structurally.
The real story isn’t displacement. It’s fragmentation. As compliance requirements tighten and jurisdictional specifics of corridors grow, the stablecoin market will likely split: a massive USD layer for global settlements and a growing variety of local instruments for end-use cases.
$1.7B is still a rounding error next to $ 276B. But +150% YoY is no fluke.
It’s a structural signal worth watching.