Stablecoins may be inching closer to the mainstream. Half of adults surveyed by The Motley Fool say they would consider using stablecoins for everyday purchases. That jumps to 71% among Gen Z and 60% among millennials but plummets among older generations, according to The Motley Fool’s 2025 Stablecoin Usage and Trends survey.
Knowledge and actual usage of stablecoins are uneven, with only roughly 1 in 5 saying they fully understand how stablecoins work. And as with usage, understanding drops quickly with older generations. The generational divide over openness to stablecoins could be a barrier for widespread adoption.
Whether you’re curious about how stablecoins work or already looking to integrate them into your own investing and purchases, The Motley Fool’s educational guide on stablecoins and Motley Fool Money’s expert picks for the best cryptocurrency exchanges can help you get started.
Who would use stablecoins for shopping
71% of Gen Z, 60% of millennials would use stablecoins for typical shopping
71% of Gen Z and 60% of millennials surveyed by The Motley Fool say they would use stablecoins for typical shopping. Meanwhile, just 31% of Gen X and 18% of baby boomers said they would consider a stablecoin for online or in-store purchases. Men (60%) are more open than women (41%) to using stablecoins for regular shopping.
Those trends – younger generations and men being more open to cryptocurrency than older generations and women – are seen across the cryptocurrency sector.
| Respondents | Yes | No | Not sure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gen Z | 71% | 10% | 19% |
| Millennials | 60% | 15% | 25% |
| Gen X | 31% | 34% | 35% |
| Baby boomers | 18% | 46% | 36% |
| Silent | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Male | 60% | 18% | 22% |
| Female | 41% | 26% | 33% |
| All | 50% | 22% | 28% |
That openness toward using stablecoins for shopping significantly falls off with older generations is a worrisome sign for widespread acceptance. Gen X and baby boomers spend more and make more money than younger generations, which means their use of stablecoins could be significant for their wider adoption.
27% have already used stablecoins
27% of Americans say they’ve already used stablecoins for purchasing or investing
Roughly 1 in 4 respondents to The Motley Fool’s Stablecoin Usage and Trends survey say they’ve used stablecoins for purchases or investing. While the exact percentages may vary from survey to survey, the directional trend is clear: Younger generations and men are significantly more likely to report stablecoin use.
Among Gen Z, 42% of respondents said they had used a stablecoin, followed by 34% of millennials compared to 14% of Gen X and just 2% of baby boomers.
Men (34%) are more likely to have used a stablecoin than women (21%), consistent with broader crypto trends.
| Respondents | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
| Gen Z | 42% | 58% |
| Millennials | 34% | 66% |
| Gen X | 14% | 86% |
| Baby boomers | 2% | 98% |
| Silent | 0% | 0% |
| Male | 34% | 66% |
| Female | 21% | 79% |
| All | 27% | 73% |
Keys to stablecoin acceptance
Improved privacy, speed, and lower fees are top factors for new stablecoin use
Convincing consumers and merchants to move beyond familiar payment methods like credit and debit cards and try something brand new will take some work. In particular, shoppers and businesses would consider using stablecoins if they offered better privacy, transaction speed, and lower fees than existing payment methods.
Stablecoin proponents claim that crypto transactions will settle faster and can be done without debit and credit card processing fees that hit merchants with every swipe. Privacy is another question, however, given that transactions on the blockchain are publicly accessible and can be traced to specific individuals if their wallet ID is known.
One red flag is that nothing could be done right now to convince 41% of Gen X and 57% of baby boomers to consider using stablecoins for purchases.
| Respondents | Lower transaction fees | Faster transaction times | Better privacy or security | Store discounts and incentives | Support from banks and payment apps | Widely accepted at stores | I wouldn't consider using a stablecoin for purchases |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gen Z | 26% | 32% | 38% | 20% | 18% | 15% | 13% |
| Millennials | 28% | 32% | 28% | 20% | 17% | 16% | 18% |
| Gen X | 20% | 16% | 18% | 15% | 15% | 17% | 41% |
| Baby boomers | 14% | 5% | 9% | 10% | 16% | 20% | 57% |
| Silent | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Male | 28% | 30% | 28% | 18% | 16% | 18% | 22% |
| Female | 19% | 20% | 24% | 17% | 17% | 15% | 33% |
| All | 24% | 25% | 26% | 17% | 17% | 16% | 28% |
Top concerns about stablecoins
Price volatility, acceptance at store, and lack of regulation are the top concerns with stablecoins
Price volatility (38%), lack of widespread acceptance (31%), and insufficient regulation (29%) top the list of concerns about using stablecoins for payments among survey respondents – and each has some merit.
While stablecoins are meant to maintain a 1:1 peg to the U.S. dollar, there have been instances of “depegging.” The most infamous case was Terra’s UST in 2022, which rapidly collapsed despite being labeled as stable. Concerns about reserves of Tether’s USDT (CRYPTO:USDT), one of the largest stablecoins, are well documented and persistent. If a stablecoin were to lose its 1:1 peg with the dollar, there would be significant disruption to the finances of both individuals and businesses.
Widespread acceptance of stablecoins is a precondition for consumers to even consider switching from their debit and credit cards to crypto at checkout. Stablecoins will remain a niche and low-utility financial tool without near-universal acceptance.
Regulation of stablecoins is at an early stage, although a foundation has been set with the passage of the Genius Act in July 2025. That legislation requires that stablecoin issuers maintain 1:1 dollar reserves to back the coins they issue and requires additional regulation to be drafted, although more work remains on the regulatory front.
| Respondents | Lack of regulation | Price volatility | Not widely accepted | Complicated to use | Privacy or security concerns | I'm not familiar with stablecoins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gen Z | 28% | 42% | 30% | 31% | 22% | 13% |
| Millennials | 30% | 43% | 33% | 25% | 19% | 14% |
| Gen X | 30% | 32% | 33% | 18% | 16% | 29% |
| Baby boomers | 27% | 28% | 24% | 11% | 20% | 42% |
| Silent | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Male | 31% | 43% | 34% | 23% | 18% | 14% |
| Female | 28% | 32% | 29% | 22% | 19% | 27% |
| All | 29% | 38% | 31% | 23% | 19% | 21% |
Who is familiar with stablecoins
56% of Americans are familiar with stablecoins, but understanding lags among Gen X and baby boomers
Understanding how stablecoins work is important for adoption, since most consumers and merchants would likely be uncomfortable making transactions and not understanding how to access their money, fill their crypto wallets, or exchange actual dollars for crypto and vice versa.
It’s promising for stablecoins that 56% of respondents to The Motley Fool’s 2025 Stablecoin Usage and Trends survey say they’re either very familiar or somewhat familiar with stablecoins, while 22% say they’ve heard of them but don’t understand them, and 23% say they’re not familiar with stablecoins at all.
Understanding plummets among older generations. While 27% of both Gen Z and millennials say they’re very familiar with stablecoins and more than 40% of those generations say they’re somewhat familiar, no baby boomer surveyed said they’re very familiar with stablecoins, and just 21% said they’re somewhat familiar. Nearly 41% of baby boomers said they’re not familiar at all with them.
| Respondents | Very familiar – I understand how they work and their use cases | Somewhat familiar – I have a general idea | Heard of them but don’t really understand them | Not familiar at all |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gen Z | 27% | 44% | 16% | 13% |
| Millennials | 27% | 41% | 16% | 16% |
| Gen X | 13% | 27% | 27% | 32% |
| Baby boomers | 0% | 21% | 38% | 41% |
| Silent | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Male | 27% | 40% | 18% | 14% |
| Female | 14% | 31% | 25% | 31% |
| All | 20% | 36% | 22% | 23% |
Requirements for consumer stablecoin adoption
What it would take for consumers to adopt stablecoins
The data is clear: Younger consumers are leading the stablecoin wave, but older generations and, to a lesser extent, women remain hesitant. Whether their skepticism prevents stablecoins from scaling to widespread adoption remains to be seen but is a concern given how much spending power is concentrated among Gen X and baby boomers.
Privacy, speed, and fees are key motivators for stablecoin adoption, while volatility and lack of understanding are roadblocks. Given that, consumer education might be just as important as regulation in driving stablecoin adoption.
Other stablecoin research articles
- Payment processing fees: stablecoins, credit cards, debit cards, and BNPL
- How Are Banks, Card Networks, and Payment Processors Adapting to Stablecoins?
- Which companies accept stablecoin payments?
- Which Stablecoins Are the Largest and Most Popular in 2025?
- Stablecoin Reserves Versus Brokerages and Banks: Which Holds More in 2025?
- Who holds the most Bitcoin? A breakdown by investor, fund, company, and country
- Which crypto exchanges are the largest in 2025?
Methodology
The Motley Fool surveyed 2,000 American adults via Pollfish on July 18, 2025. Results were post-stratified to generate nationally representative data based on age and gender. The demographic breakdown of respondents is as follows: 28% Gen Z, 31% millennial, 33% Gen X, 9% baby boomer, 48% male, and 52% female. Pollfish employs organic random device engagement sampling, a method that recruits respondents through a randomized invitation process across various digital platforms. This technique helps to minimize selection bias and ensure a diverse participant pool.
