The state of non-USD stablecoins

Non-USD stablecoins are, simultaneously, a rounding error and the most important trend in the market. The numbers: the stablecoin sector reached an all-time high around $321 billion in market capitalization this spring, supporting settlement volume in the tens of trillions annualized, and non-dollar tokens account for on the order of $1 billion of that supply, under half a percent. Yet that slice has grown several-fold in three years, it is where nearly all new regulatory activity concentrates, and its usage patterns look nothing like the dollar tokens'. This is our currency-by-currency map of the regulated non-USD landscape — the first edition of a report we intend to keep current as the market moves.

The map, by currency

Excluded from this map, deliberately: discontinued tokens (Tether's euro token wound down), tokens without current authorization in their home regime, and tokens whose opacity or sanctions exposure disqualifies them from a regulated settlement lens. Inclusion criteria are part of the analysis - a list that counts everything measures nothing.

What the supply numbers hide

Judging non-USD stablecoins by market cap is measuring a payment instrument with a savings-account metric. The dollar giants' supply reflects balances held - trading collateral, parked liquidity, digital dollars as a store of value. The regulated non-dollar tokens show the opposite signature: small float, high flow. Japan's JPYC regularly turns over more than its entire supply; Singapore's XSGD shows the same pattern. Money that moves through a token doesn't sit in it - a yen token used for payroll or supplier payment is minted, transferred, and redeemed, leaving little standing supply behind.

For payment tokens, measure flow, not float. On that metric the non-USD story is far further along than the half-percent headline suggests - and it is exactly the signature you'd expect if these tokens are doing what they were licensed for: payments, not speculation.

The three regulatory engines

The non-USD market is not growing evenly; it is growing where regulation opened lanes.

MiCA cleared the European field. Full enforcement pushed non-compliant tokens off EU venues - the largest USD token delisted for EU customers, the legacy euro token discontinued - and handed the market to authorized e-money tokens. EURC's euro-market share roughly doubled within a year on the back of compliance, not product novelty. Regulation designed as consumer protection functioned as industrial policy for the euro token market.

The PTSR built the dirham a protected lane. The UAE went further than anyone: licensed dirham tokens are the only virtual assets generally permitted for domestic goods-and-services payments, while multiple issuers - fintech and bank - have come online. No other non-G7 currency has that structure.

Japan's FSA proved the bank-grade template. JPYC's launch as the first regulated yen stablecoin - followed by rapid corporate adoption experiments and serious institutional interest in yen issuance - shows the pattern generalizing to the world's third-largest economy.

And one engine runs in reverse: US federal stablecoin law, passed in 2025, restricts foreign non-USD tokens unless their home regime is certified comparable - a framework observers read as protecting dollar incumbents while MiCA and the PTSR promote local alternatives. The world is splitting into currency lanes, and the lanes are regulatory.

What's coming

The pipeline is the strongest part of the story: a consortium of European banks has announced plans for a joint euro stablecoin; further dirham issuers hold approvals; Hong Kong's stablecoin ordinance opens the door to licensed HKD tokens; Korean legislation is in motion; and issuers across Southeast Asia and Latin America keep converting regulatory clarity into launches. The direction of travel is one-way - more currencies, more licensed issuers, more lanes.

What it means for settlement

Every row added to that map shrinks the dollar detour: more corridors where value can stay currency-native end to end. But issuance is the easy half. The hard half is what sits between the rows - liquidity in the cross-pairs, routing across the N×N matrix, and licensed conversion at the fiat edges. A world of thirty regulated currency tokens without conversion infrastructure between them is thirty islands. Building the ferries is the work - and it's ours: non-USD pairs are first-class citizens on Thiqwave, because this map is the market we were founded for.

This report will be updated as the landscape changes. Figures are approximate, drawn from public trackers and issuer disclosures at time of writing.

Frequently asked questions

What is the largest non-USD stablecoin?
Circle's EURC, at roughly $430–500 million in circulation in H1 2026 - around half of the euro-token segment, which itself is about 80% of transparent non-USD supply.

What share of stablecoins are non-USD?
Under half a percent of total supply - roughly $1 billion against a ~$320 billion market. Flow-based measures tell a stronger story than supply.

Which countries have regulated local-currency stablecoins?
Live today: the EU (MiCA e-money tokens), the UAE (dirham tokens under the PTSR), Japan (JPYC under the FSA), Singapore (XSGD under MAS), Nigeria (cNGN), among others - with Hong Kong and Korea advancing frameworks.

Why is market cap misleading for payment tokens?
Because payment tokens are minted, moved, and redeemed rather than held - high turnover on small supply. JPYC regularly turns over more than its entire float; supply measures savings behavior, not payment adoption.

Is there a dirham stablecoin?
Yes - AE Coin (licensed December 2024) and Zand AED are live, with further bank issuers approved or announced under the CBUAE's PTSR.

Sources

• CoinGecko, "The Rise of Non-USD Stablecoins" (2026)

• Decta, Euro Stablecoin Trends Report 2026 · Stablecoin Insider, EURC Q1 2026 report

• Forbes, "Non-Dollar Stablecoins Hit $1.2 Billion" (Mar 2026)

• JPYC launch (CoinDesk, Oct 2025) · AE Coin · Zand AED · RAKBANK · IHC/ADQ/FAB

• EU MiCA · CBUAE PTSR · GENIUS Act (Jul 2025) · Hong Kong Stablecoins Ordinance (Aug 2025)