Hundreds of billions of dollars in cross-border cryptocurrency payments flow globally, driven primarily by speculative investment, according to a recent report by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
The BIS study, published May 8, found cross-border payments using the two largest cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), and the two largest stablecoins, USDt (USDT) and USDC (USDC), totaled about $600 billion during the second quarter of 2024, the final observation period covered by the analysis.
“Our findings highlight speculative motives and global funding conditions as key drivers of native crypto asset flows,” the BIS said.
Cross-border crypto asset flows by quarter. Source: BIS
Still, the report noted that stablecoins and low-value Bitcoin transactions are frequently driven by practical use cases, particularly as alternatives to traditional remittances. The researchers