The crypto industry lost $2.1 trillion in market value during the past year, yet measured on-chain economic activity declined just 1.6% as stablecoin use expanded.

The global crypto economy generated about $9.4 trillion in activity during the 12 months through June 30, down from $9.5 trillion a year earlier, according to Chainalysis’s 2026 Global Crypto Adoption Index published Sept. 23. That comparatively small contraction came as total crypto market capitalization fell about 50% during the period.

The divergence marks a shift in where activity occurs during market downturns. Value received by exchanges, decentralized-finance protocols and other crypto services fell 4.3% to $8.9 trillion, while transfers directly between personal wallets within countries surged to $228.7 billion from $56.8 billion.

Stablecoins accounted for much of that resilience. Inflows of dollar-pegged tokens into crypto services increased 5.3% even as overall service receipts declined, while Chainalysis said stablecoins now make up about 96% of domestic peer-to-peer activity.

Cross-border use accelerated alongside the shift. Stablecoin transfers between countries increased 77.5% to $220.3 billion from $124.2 billion, with estimated monthly volume more than doubling to $24 billion in June from about $11 billion in January 2025.

The average cross-border stablecoin transaction was roughly $3,000, a size Chainalysis said was consistent with supplier payments, remittances and people moving savings between currencies. The firm estimates the actual market is larger because its calculations exclude transfers where either end cannot be confidently assigned to a country.

Those flows helped cushion a market decline that otherwise rivaled crypto’s deepest downturns.

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