Stablecoin Owners Now Outnumber Solana Holders, Reveals Reown Survey

A recent survey conducted by Reown in partnership with YouGov highlights a significant shift in the crypto landscape: stablecoin ownership has surpassed that of Solana holders. This trend points to the growing adoption of cryptocurrencies for practical utility rather than mere speculation.

Crypto Payments Emerge as a Leading Use Case

The survey of over 1,000 crypto users found that 38% own stablecoins, edging out Solana holders at 37%. Bitcoin and Ethereum remain the most widely held cryptocurrencies, each accounting for 48% ownership among respondents. According to Reown CEO Jess Houlgrave, the rise of stablecoins and everyday crypto payments marks the true breakout use case for the industry.

While crypto trading remains the most popular onchain activity for 36% of users, payments have climbed to the second spot, with 10% engagement and 14% of users expressing excitement about payments as a future activity. Crypto payment adoption is also rising year-over-year, with 34% of WalletConnect users actively making payments.

Regulatory Advances and Industry Momentum

The passage of the GENIUS Act in the United States has established a regulatory framework for stablecoins, enabling banks and major retailers to engage with and issue these digital assets. This has helped solidify stablecoins’ growing role in crypto payments.

Additionally, the IPO of Circle, a major stablecoin issuer, signals increased importance of payments in the crypto sector. Retail giants like Amazon and Walmart are reportedly considering launching their own stablecoins, further demonstrating mainstream interest.

Nikola Pleca, Vice President of Payments at TON Foundation, described the current period as “exciting,” predicting that global regulatory developments will soon provide consumers with expanded crypto payment options, especially in fiat-backed stablecoins.

Addressing Adoption Barriers

Despite this momentum, barriers remain that hinder broader adoption of crypto payments. Houlgrave emphasizes that paying with crypto remains too complex, with user experience still lagging behind expectations. Although payments are a favored use case for some users, over 70% still hold assets on centralized exchanges.

Fragmentation across networks and chains contributes significantly to this friction. Over half of users manage multiple wallets due to varying network and chain support, complicating the experience.

Reown is tackling these challenges with solutions designed to bridge the gap between utility and user experience. Their Reown AppKit provides businesses with tools to simplify onchain app development by handling onramps, stablecoin transfers, and multi-chain transactions. Features like social logins, smart account abstraction, and fiat-to-crypto flows aim to reduce friction for users.

Mirna Barac, Payments Manager at Reown, highlights that these compliance-ready solutions allow enterprises to integrate onchain payments securely and without legal uncertainty.

A Turning Point for Onchain User Experience

Houlgrave believes the industry is at a critical juncture. New solutions are bringing onchain experiences closer to, and in some cases surpassing, the convenience of Web2 applications. She predicts that the next wave of 100 million crypto users will not come through trading but through intuitive, embedded real-world payment experiences.