Visa and CoinShares research shows 46% of APAC consumers expect to use stablecoins within five years, while over 50% of Western affluent investors already hold digital assets.
DeFi & Yields ·
A joint study by Visa found that 46% of consumers in Asia-Pacific regions expect to adopt stablecoins for everyday transactions over the next five years, according to research. Separately, data from CoinShares revealed that more than 50% of wealthy investors in Western markets already hold some form of digital asset, indicating asset penetration among higher-income segments has already surpassed adoption projections for developing regions.
The findings reflect divergent timelines for crypto adoption across geographies. Asia-Pacific consumer appetite for stablecoins centers on everyday payments, suggesting a near-term use case focused on transaction efficiency rather than speculation or long-term wealth storage. Western affluent investors, by contrast, have already moved beyond the adoption threshold, implying that digital assets have become a normalized part of portfolio construction among those with capital to deploy.
The gap between near-future Asian consumer intent and current Western institutional acceptance remains significant. Neither study details whether the 46% figure reflects certainty or mere openness to trial, nor does the data clarify which stablecoins these consumers might prefer or whether regulatory frameworks will facilitate this projected uptake by 2030.