Ethereum Stablecoin Shift: B2B Payments Surge 156% as Businesses Drive Volume

The Artemis research report, analyzing Ethereum stablecoin activity from August 2024 to August 2025, draws a stark distinction between transaction frequency and monetary value. While person-to-person (P2P) transfers constitute 67% of all transaction count, they represent a mere 24% of the total dollar volume. The inverse is true for business-involved payments. Though fewer in number, transactions involving corporate wallets command the lion’s share of value moving on-chain. This divergence underscores a pivotal change: Ethereum is increasingly facilitating large-scale commercial settlements.

The growth metrics are even more telling. B2B payment volume expanded by 156% year-over-year, with the average transaction size increasing by 45%. As James, Head of Ecosystem at the Ethereum Foundation, noted, “institutions aren’t sending more payments. They’re sending bigger ones.” Simultaneously, the fastest-growing category was person-to-business (P2B) payments, which saw a staggering 167% rise in volume. This surge in consumer-to-merchant activity suggests Ethereum is gaining ground not just in back-office corporate transfers but also in everyday commerce and spending.

This maturation of Ethereum’s stablecoin economy carries significant implications for the network’s broader role. Analysts cited in the report suggest that stablecoin usage for real transactions, rather than price speculation on ETH, may be one of Ethereum’s strongest long-term demand drivers. The Artemis “Stablecoin Wrapped 2025” report adds crucial context, showing that on-chain B2B payments have reached an annual run rate of nearly $77 billion. This figure demonstrates a growing trust among firms in blockchain rails for substantive financial operations.

The trend unfolds against a mixed backdrop for Ethereum’s native token. While ETH has seen volatility, trading just under $3,000 and down over 40% from its August all-time high near $5,000, its current value remains 5.5% higher than 30 days prior. This price action highlights a potential decoupling; the underlying utility of the network for payments is expanding rapidly even as token prices experience market cycles. The foundational argument is that if Ethereum solidifies its position as “financial plumbing,” its value proposition becomes more resilient and less dependent on hype.

Despite the bullish adoption signals, the Artemis data reveals notable concentration risks. Approximately 84% of all stablecoin volume originates from the top 1,000 wallets. This concentration means that, for now, a relatively small cohort of large players—likely institutions and large merchants—controls the majority of capital flows. It raises important questions about how decentralized stablecoin usage truly is in practice, even as the total adoption grows.

The dominance of Tether’s USDT, which added more supply this year than the next five issuers combined according to Artemis, further underscores this theme of concentration within the stablecoin ecosystem itself. Taken together, the findings paint a picture of a network in transition. Ethereum is demonstrably becoming a backbone for business payments and commerce, a shift that analysts believe could fundamentally re-base its value. However, the journey towards a deeply decentralized and broadly distributed payment layer continues, with these early concentration metrics serving as a benchmark for future progress.