Federal Reserve’s 2025 payments study shows cards and ACH dominate while crypto remains invisible
The Fed's triennial snapshot of how Americans pay for things reveals 236.6 billion noncash transactions in 2024, with zero mention of crypto or stablecoins.
The Federal Reserve just published the most comprehensive look at how Americans move money, and the crypto industry is nowhere to be found in it.
The 2025 triennial payments study, released July 1, tracked noncash payment methods across the US for the year 2024. The headline number: 236.6 billion noncash transactions, a figure that has tripled since the year 2000. Cards accounted for more than 75% of those transactions by volume, while Automated Clearing House systems handled nearly 75% of total noncash payment value for the first time. Not a single line in the findings references crypto assets, stablecoins, or blockchain-based payments.
The card economy keeps winning
Debit cards maintained their dominant position in the payments landscape. Credit card payments are growing faster than debit for the first time in nearly a decade.
On the other side of the ledger, checks and ATM cash withdrawals continued their multi-year decline in both transaction count and total value.
ACH quietly becomes the backbone
The system, which processes direct deposits, bill payments, and bank-to-bank transfers, now handles nearly three-quarters of all noncash payment value in the US.
The Federal Reserve Payments Study has been tracking noncash payment trends since at least 2001, making it one of the longest-running datasets on how money actually moves through the economy.
What this means for crypto and stablecoins
Stablecoins have crossed $300 billion in market capitalization. The GENIUS Act, established in July 2025, created a regulatory framework specifically for payment stablecoins. And yet stablecoin usage in actual payment functions remains below 1%, with the overwhelming majority of activity tied to trading rather than buying groceries or paying rent.
Investors evaluating the payments landscape should weigh the gap between narrative and adoption carefully. The companies building on top of existing card and ACH rails are operating in a market that processes 236.6 billion transactions a year and growing. Stablecoin payment projects are competing for a slice of activity that currently rounds to zero in the Fed’s dataset.