How do Stablecoins Make Money: Revenue Tactics for this Year

What Are Stablecoins and Why Do They Matter in 2025?

Stablecoins can be defined as cryptocurrencies that represent the value of a stable asset, such as the US dollar, gold, or a currency basket, and thus act as a stable store of value in the otherwise volatile world of cryptocurrencies. Unlike other cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, whose prices fluctuate rapidly within hours, stablecoins are used on a continuous basis for everyday spending, cross-border payments, and even salaries.

In 2025, stablecoins became a key part of global finance, ensuring the stability and efficiency of transactions. According to the data, in February 2025, the volume of monthly payments in stablecoins reached $4.1 trillion, representing a 115% increase from $1.9 trillion in February 2024.

Major banks and businesses are already utilizing stablecoins in their payment systems, and governments are taking a keen interest in how they will impact monetary policy. Thus, stablecoins are not just a nursery for cryptocurrencies and fiat, but are gradually becoming a cornerstone for digital commerce and innovation in the era of digital currency.

The Role of Stablecoins in DeFi and Digital Payments

Stablecoins have become indispensable in the rapidly changing digital transactions and decentralised finance (DeFi) markets, introducing algorithmic stability and efficiency while significantly impacting market capitalization. The ability to merge the benefits of blockchain technology with traditional asset stability has put stablecoins at the forefront of financial innovation.

• Stablecoins bring stability and robustness to DeFi as collateral, liquidity, and stable assets to offset market volatility.
• Over 70% of all DeFi transactions in 2025 are expected to be stablecoin-based, underscoring the significant role of stablecoins in the system.
• In electronic commerce, they facilitate instant, low-value, cross-border payments without the typical delays and fees associated with bank transactions.
• Leading stablecoins, such as USDT and USDC, now process daily transaction volumes comparable to those of major credit card networks.
• The widespread adoption of stablecoins is driving innovation in cross-border payments, remittances, and access to decentralised financial services.

How Stablecoin Projects Generate Revenue Today

Taking advantage of their unique position as stable middlemen between traditional finance and blockchain technology, these projects are financing themselves using a range of innovative methods. Here’s how do stablecoins make money:

Interest Income from Fiat Reserves

Most stablecoins maintain reserves in traditional financial institutions such as banks or money market funds, providing opportunities for stablecoin passive income through interest earnings. The issuers receive interest on the fiat deposits as low-risk instruments, like US Treasury bills, which earn reasonable returns when global interest rates are high.

For example, in 2025, the largest stablecoin reserves are expected to generate more than $3 billion annually in interest, which is among the highest-grossing sources of revenue in the sector.

Transaction and Network Fees

Networks typically make low charges for transactions, transfers, or conversions, earning a steady stream of income as the use of stablecoins grows.

They are generally much lower than the fees charged by banks or credit card organisations, and therefore stablecoins are a better bargain for high-volume, low-value payments. As a result, some stablecoins now process more daily transactions than the large payment networks, with transaction fees generating millions of dollars per month.

Partnerships with Exchanges and Platforms

Partnerships with crypto exchanges, payment processors, and fintech companies enable stablecoin firms to expand their reach and leverage the technology. They also usually include listing fees, revenue sharing, or incentive fees on integrations to encourage liquidity and usage of blockchain projects.

Specifically, in 2025, several leading crypto-backed token projects signed multimillion-dollar partnerships with global payment providers to solidify their position in everyday finance further.

Yield Farming and Lending Protocols

Stablecoins are widely used within DeFi protocols for lending and farming, where individuals can earn money by lending out their assets, providing liquidity, or choosing to earn on stablecoins. Issuers and crypto-backed token platforms can earn a share of interest or fees from these services, which serve as a secondary source of income.

The billions of dollars of capital locked in DeFi protocols have been the foundation of decentralized finance, and the fees transferred through these services continue to grow enormously year by year.

Centralized vs. Decentralized Stablecoins: Different Monetization Models

New Monetization Strategies Emerging in 2025

With the stablecoin industry coming of age in 2025, innovative monetization models and the tokenization of real-world assets will revolutionize the way projects generate revenue and create value for customers. Not only do these new models increase revenues, but they also expand the role of stablecoins in the entire financial system.

• Tokenized Treasury Yields and On-Chain Bonds

That approach has attracted billions of new capital, and certain platforms have increased their assets under management by up to 40% since launching tokenised bond services. Stablecoins give mass consumers exposure to institutional-level yields, bridging the gap between blockchain investment and traditional finance.

• Integration with CBDCs and Traditional Banking APIs

Co-operation with central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and back-end integration with the legacy banking APIs generates new revenue streams for stablecoin projects. Integration offers easy entry and exit into the fiat currency system, ensures automatic regulatory compliance, and promotes greater acceptance of fiat currencies within the legacy financial system.

• Cross-Chain Transfer Fees and Interoperability Revenue

As the multichain ecosystem continues to expand, stablecoins are leading the trend toward interchain transfer fees and interoperability solutions. Because they allow users to transfer assets between chains easily, projects are earning huge fee revenues while enabling the building of decentralised applications.

How to Build a Profitable Stablecoin Project

Running a thriving stablecoin project in today’s competitive marketplace requires a combination of financial ingenuity, transparency, user-centric development, and expertise in creating stablecoins. These are the ways leading fintech projects will differentiate themselves:

Define the Peg and Collateral Model

Choosing the right peg to the US dollar, the euro, or a basket of assets, along with a robust collateral model, is the foundation of stability and user confidence. USDC and DAI efforts have demonstrated that an open collateral policy attracts both institutional and retail users.

Develop a Transparent Reserve Management System

Some of the best-quality projects are now conducting real-time third-party audits of reserves and providing public verification, thereby establishing trust and ensuring compliance. Indeed, stablecoins with regular third-party audits are twice as attractive to users as open reserves.

Integrate Yield-Generating Strategies

Yield-generating activity cumulated in aggregate – i.e., lending reserves into low-quality assets or participating in DeFi lending protocols – can dramatically boost returns. For example, the leading stablecoin issuers collectively reported combined interest income of over $3 billion in 2024 alone, underscoring the robustness of their conservative reserve management.

Focus on Utility and Ecosystem Partnerships

Expanding the use cases for stablecoins through partnerships with exchanges, payment platforms, and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols drives both adoption and revenue growth, raising the question of how does coin make money. Projects that integrate with major fintech platforms or enable seamless cross-border payments have achieved transaction volumes that rival those of traditional payment networks.

Risks and Challenges in Stablecoin Monetization

The monetization of stablecoins creates new risks and challenges that need to be assessed by their issuers and users to ensure long-term stability and trust. As stablecoins become increasingly integral components of cross-border finance and DeFi, participants in the system must recognize and value these inherent vulnerabilities.

• Regulatory Uncertainty: The rapid pace of regulatory change can negatively impact the business of stablecoins, as new requirements or prohibitions can pose a significant risk to revenue streams and market access.
• Reserve Management Risk: Centralized stablecoins must carefully manage their asset or fiat reserves; mismanagement or lack of transparency can result in the loss of user trust and potential insolvency.
• Smart Contract Vulnerabilities: Decentralized stablecoins are built upon sophisticated smart contracts, which, if exploited or coded improperly, can result in substantial financial losses and damage to the protocol’s reputation.
• Market Volatility and Depegging: Stablecoins can lose their peg due to unusual market conditions or insufficient collateral, resulting in an immediate loss of value, user trust, and revenue streams.

Will Stablecoins Stay Profitable in the Future?

Medium- to long-term prospects for stablecoin profitability appear promising, but will still depend on the issuers’ ability to stay ahead of the evolving market, regulatory, and technological landscape.
However, profitability will also depend on sound risk management, a transparent reserve practice, and the ability to cope with increased regulatory scrutiny.

Projects that prioritize safety, compliance, and user trust are most likely to maintain healthy revenue streams; therefore, stablecoins will continue to be a viable and profitable force in the digital economy for many years to come.

Conclusion

As the industry continues to expand, stablecoin initiatives are unveiling new monetization methods, including interest income, transaction fees, sponsorships, and ways to earn on stablecoins, as well as cross-networking, to generate stable and diversified revenues. Trust-based initiatives, regulation backing, and user innovation are likely to thrive in the new 2025 and beyond paradigm. Ultimately, stablecoins will be the cornerstone of digital finance, bringing new opportunities and mapping the future of money in an increasingly globalised world.