Large technology platforms testing stablecoin-based payouts could help drive projected growth to $4 trillion by 2030, according to Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan, up from around $300 billion today.
DoorDash is currently partnering with Stripe to test stablecoin-based payouts for its 10 million Dashers across more than 40 countries. Concurrently, Meta is rolling out similar payout programs for creators in the Philippines and Colombia using the Solana and Polygon blockchains, targeting a global creator economy estimated at 200 million contributors, Hougan said in a note to clients on Tuesday.
Hougan described the pilots as "not a big deal" on a relative basis, noting that dollar amounts remain small. But he said they have increased his "confidence" that stablecoins will scale to trillions in assets.
He also said the pilots revealed what he called the "stablecoin killer app" that most people miss. According to Hougan, the primary driver for DoorDash and Meta is not cost savings, though stablecoins can settle for cents compared to tens of dollars for a bank wire.
He said the main advantage is simplicity: one wallet address, no banking infrastructure, and no currency conversions for global businesses managing millions of micropayments.
"I suspect all global tech companies with distributed gig workers will follow DoorDash and Meta on this path," Hougan wrote in the note. "In the process, they'd help bring millions of users into the crypto ecosystem."
Hougan’s comments come as dollar-pegged stablecoin supply has surpassed $302 billion, according to The Block’s data dashboard, with Tether’s USDT accounting for about $189.5 billion and Circle’s USDC at roughly $79 billion.
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Traditional payment firms are also expanding their infrastructure. On Monday, Western Union launched its USDPT stablecoin on Solana for 24/7 settlement across a network spanning more than 200 countries. At the same time, Visa said its stablecoin settlement pilot reached a $7 billion annualized run rate after expanding to nine supported blockchains and more than 130 card programs across over 50 countries.
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