Stablecoin holdings in personal wallets across Western Europe rose 131% between July 2025 and June 2026, more than double the 52% global growth rate, according to a November 9 report from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. The region's share of global stablecoin balances increased from 3.4% to 5.1%.
Total crypto activity in Western Europe reached $2.08 trillion over the period, up 1.2%, making it the world's second-largest regional crypto economy. Among major markets, Germany recorded $288.8 billion in activity, France $215.8 billion, the Netherlands $207.8 billion, Spain $156.1 billion, and Switzerland $132.8 billion.
UK Leads Domestic Stablecoin Transfers
The UK remained the region's largest market with $424.5 billion in activity, though this represented an 8% decline from the previous year, primarily due to lower trading on decentralized exchanges.
Domestic stablecoin transfers in the UK climbed sharply from $109 million to $2.09 billion over the period, accounting for 60% of Western Europe's domestic stablecoin transfer value. UK domestic transfers were 1.32 times the value of its measured cross-border activity.
Retail adoption of stablecoins also grew. About 1.03% of eligible UK retail wallets converted at least 80% of their crypto holdings into stablecoins, up from 0.66% a year earlier.
France and Spain Show Divergent Trends
In France, stablecoin balances in personal wallets rose 192%, with the number of French personal wallets holding stablecoins growing from 3,577 to 12,255. Stablecoins comprised 54.2% of French withdrawals from centralized exchanges by June 2026, the highest share among major markets studied.
Spain's registered exchanges attracted increasing cross-border inflows from other European countries. Cross-border inflows from Western Europe rose 79.1%, compared with 24.6% growth in Spain's overall crypto economy. Italy and Portugal led the inflow trend, with growth of 329% and 751% respectively.
Regulatory Developments
The Financial Conduct Authority is preparing new rules for digital assets in the UK. Crypto firms can apply between September 30, 2026, and February 28, 2027, ahead of the regime's October 2027 start.
European banks are building regulated stablecoins under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, or MiCA. The Qivalis banking consortium won approval in October to operate as an electronic money institution in the Netherlands. In October, the European Banking Authority named Circle's USDC the first stablecoin placed in MiCA's top tier for large electronic money tokens, with direct EBA supervision beginning on November 12.
