Stablecoin Volumes Reached Record Highs In Q3 – But Humans Were Not Behind It

A new report on stablecoin activity in Q3 2025 shows a ton of bullish figures and rampant bot activity. More than 70% of on-chain transactions were carried out by automated protocols.

These bots continued growing at a steady rate, staying active while human traders cooled down in September. This trend could undermine trader confidence and stablecoins’ stated utility functions.

Bullish Data on Stablecoins

Stablecoins are seemingly all the rage right now, between explosive valuations, new regulatory breakthroughs, and stiff competition from new players.

However, while some analysts are announcing that stablecoins are the future, a new report from CEX.io makes bold claims about rampant bot activity:

“Bot-driven activity continues to dominate the landscape, accounting for 71% of all on-chain stablecoin transactions, up from 68% in Q2. The surge of bot activity and unlabeled high-frequency transfers could raise questions about a potential increase of wash trading and non-economically-valuable transfers within the stablecoin space,” the report claimed.

In fairness, these bot allegations are nestled within a set of bullish data points for the stablecoin sector. Total token supply jumped by around $43 billion, fueled by huge minting events, and trading activity hit a four-year high.

Retail usage, meaning token transfers under $250, also hit an all-time high. This guarantees that 2025 will be the most active year for stablecoin transactions, as this market surpassed the entirety of 2024 by Q3.

Furthermore, the report claimed that this figure excludes all stablecoin transactions involving bots.

Rampant Bot Activity

Despite these bullish figures, we can’t ignore the overwhelming presence of bots in the stablecoin economy. Simply put, bot activity on this scale can cause a lot of problems.

Automatic trades can create irrational behavior in token markets, and bot-ridden platforms also damage user confidence with manipulation fears.

In other words, even if bots don’t cause rampant wash trading with stablecoins, their presence could still impact retail investors’ behavior.

The report claimed that unlabeled bot transactions were a constant presence, maintaining high volumes even while markets cooled down in September.

We’ll have to keep a close eye on this situation as more data keeps coming. Although bots have long been a part of the stablecoin economy, this is getting out of hand.

A major use case for these tokens is their utility as an on- and off-ramp between crypto and TradFi. That function seems less important in a bot-dominated ecosystem.