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As crypto markets entered 2026, one theme became increasingly clear: Last year was less about speculation and more about infrastructure, regulation, and real-world use. Across jurisdictions, regulators and institutions moved from theory to implementation, reshaping how digital assets are supervised and used.
A defining feature of this shift was the rise of stablecoins. While Bitcoin (BTC) continues to dominate crypto market capitalization, stablecoins now account for more than half of all onchain transaction volumes globally. Their increasing role in payments, remittances, and trading has placed them firmly in the center of regulatory attention, particularly as governments grapple with financial stability and compliance risks.
In this week’s episode of Byte-Sized Insight, Cointelegraph explores how these changes played out in practice, drawing on insights from Matthias Bauer-Langgartner, head of policy for Europe at Chainalysis.
Stablecoins aren’t on the sidelines
Bauer-Langgartner said, “2025 has been a year of stablecoins.”
He began by highlighting that this isn’t particularly new, as their dominance has been building for years. According to Chainalysis data, stablecoins now “clearly dominate the crypto assets landscape with more than 50% of transactional volumes,” even as Bitcoin retains roughly half of total market capitalization.
That growth has made stablecoins attractive for legitimate use cases and for illicit ones.
“Stablecoins have [also] been dominating the crypto assets transactional volumes already for quite a while now, both in illicit usage and also in legitimate usage.”
He added that criminals favor stablecoins because they are liquid, globally accessible, and avoid volatility. Still, that same structure creates enforcement leverage.
“Centralized stablecoin issuers typically have the ability to freeze or even burn stablecoins,” he said, calling it “an extremely powerful tool to combat financial crime.”
Crypto crime turns geopolitical
Beyond individual scams and hacks, 2025 also marked a shift toward state-linked crypto activity.
Bauer-Langgartner said, “2025 has really been, in many, many instances, a record year also for crypto crime.” Chainalysis recorded $154 billion in illicit crypto flows, a 162% increase year-over-year.
Related: Tether’s role in Venezuela, Iran highlights the duality of stablecoins
Much of that growth was driven by nation-state actors, he said.
“Nation-state actors are facilitating crypto usage for illicit activity on a really professional level.”
In the episode, he also broke down specific sanctioned stablecoins and state-backed networks used for sanctions evasion.
Despite the surge, Bauer-Langgartner said illicit activity still represents a small share of overall usage. “Even with the increase we’ve seen, it’s still under 1% of overall activity,” he said, underscoring the challenge regulators face as adoption accelerates.
He also highlighted Europe’s ongoing implementation of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation and how it, along with other global frameworks, is taking shape and creating a more structured industry.
Listen to the full episode on Cointelegraph’s Podcasts page, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And remember to check out Cointelegraph’s full lineup of other shows!
Magazine: How crypto laws changed in 2025 — and how they’ll change in 2026
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