Opinion by: Louise Ivan, co-founder and CEO of Ryder
Step aside, maximalists. Crypto isn’t the domain of early adopters and philosophically driven “hodlers” anymore. The demographics of crypto usage are shifting fast, with stablecoins, in particular, leading the charge.
Forget about newcomers stacking sats. In Q3 2025, Tether’s USDt (USDT) and Circle’s USDC (USDC) collectively accounted for approximately 40% of the total crypto volume. This gargantuan figure is due, in part, to folks from emerging regions like Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America wanting a better way to move their money.
Their reasons for diving into crypto are practical and straightforward. If crypto tech wants to meet them where they’re at, its products must evolve to meet these changing needs.
The need for practicality drives adoption
Not so long ago, getting into crypto meant buying Bitcoin (BTC), maybe reading a white paper or two, and finding out — sometimes, the hard way — about seed phrases, personal wallets and the perils of self-custody.
Today, most people outside the crypto enthusiast circles aren’t thinking about ideological freedom or permissionless money. They’re thinking about needs. The drive for practicality is everywhere.
In 2025, retail-sized transfers below $250 increased in volume, showing growth in everyday, small-value payments (exactly the kind needed for groceries, bills or tuition at home).
Stablecoins are dominating this pattern, becoming the first crypto asset many people encounter, especially in places where banks are slow, expensive or unreliable.
The Philippines ranks among the globe’s biggest recipients of remittances. Citizens need to send money across borders cheaply, quickly and without banking hurdles. Stablecoins solve that problem.
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Centralized exchanges and peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms are now experiencing a surge in traffic from users who value cryptocurrency for its utility rather than ideological reasons. It’s not just anecdotal: Chainalysis’ 2025 Global Adoption Index shows that India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Brazil and the Philippines are leading in grassroots crypto activity, much of which is routed through non-volatile assets, like stablecoins.
According to the World Economic Forum, the average stablecoin transfer in emerging markets ranges from $100 to $500. Cross-border remittances make up a multibillion-dollar portion of the crypto ecosystem annually.
Crypto adoption among Filipinos, in particular, has increased to 22.5%, up from 17.8% last year, primarily driven by play-to-earn gaming and remittance needs. Other fast-growing markets, including Nigeria and Vietnam, are also experiencing similar trends. Practicality and necessity are driving people to crypto, rather than the prospect of freedom, money or other philosophical motivations.
New users need a new kind of security
There is, however, a tradeoff lurking in the wings. New users primarily care about utility — specifically, sending and receiving funds — and often skip deeper crypto fundamentals, such as private keys, seed phrases and self-custody. They’re far more likely to rely on wallets provided by exchanges or custodians. While these solutions may be more straightforward and familiar, they run counter to the original ethos of crypto: not your keys, not your coins.
It’s not just about ease of use; it’s about risk and responsibility. The narrative of “lose your seed phrase, lose your crypto” is a nonstarter for someone wiring $60 for groceries. If self-custody means risking the loss of essential household funds due to a forgotten sequence of words, adoption slows and trust erodes.
For businesses and platforms, the lesson is clear: If most new users lack the desire or time to master seed phrases and backup protocols, crypto security needs to be built natively into the product, not bolted on as an afterthought.
Innovators are already on the case. Companies are experimenting with abstracting away seed phrases, using multi-layered account recovery, trusted contacts or even hardware integrations to safeguard assets without exposing users to the complexities of cryptocurrency’s cryptography.
Security is evolving from a test of technical knowledge and mental tenacity to a transparent background feature.
Abstracting away complexity is key to the next wave of adoption
This new wave of crypto users isn’t waiting for the perfect UX. They’re already using stablecoins for real-world utility, whether they realize the blockchain rails are underneath them or not. Many Filipinos are already engaging in P2P cash exchanges to convert their digital assets back into fiat currency.
Crypto’s convenience and speed are embedded in the daily lives of millions, enabling them to send money, make purchases on Facebook Marketplace, settle family bills and manage side hustles in gaming economies.
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cointelegraph.com