USDT is trusted by millions. Stablecoins Are Everywhere. Yet real-world usage remains out of reach.
A new trend is emerging from one of crypto’s most mature markets - and it reveals a frustrating truth about Web3’s promise.
Brazil is actively embracing stablecoin adoption. USDT dominates. Crypto literacy is high. And people aren’t just holding - they’re actively engaging on an advanced level.
But when it comes to spending? Usage collapses.
Despite all the signals of a mature market, crypto (and especially stablecoins) still can’t cross the threshold into everyday utility.
A market that trusts stablecoins, but still can’t use them.
In our July 2025 survey of Brazilian crypto users aged 23-45, 91.8% said they already hold stablecoins, with USDT dominating adoption (83%) and 85% expressing a desire to use crypto for everyday purchases.
Yet despite this enthusiasm, only 54.3% have ever made a crypto payment, and just 37% have used it in a real-world setting, whether in-store or online. Even among active users, crypto payment tools earned an average satisfaction score of just 3.28 out of 5.
Tether’s position in Brazil is unmatched - but it marks a shift in user expectations.
Tether’s advantage in Brazil is clear: it’s not just the most widely used stablecoin - it’s the most trusted. With 83% of surveyed users actively using USDT and 43.5% placing full trust in it, Tether has evolved into a kind of default currency for Brazil’s crypto-native class. That level of market penetration is rare and deeply significant. It reflects years of consistency, brand resilience and product reliability in a region where financial uncertainty has long shaped user behavior.
Their concern signals that Brazilian users are no longer in exploratory mode - they’re evaluating stablecoins with the discernment of traditional financial consumers.
“Brazilian users are among the most advanced crypto participants globally. They trust USDT. They’re holding stablecoins. They’re staking, trading, investing, and they’re eager to use crypto in the real world. The fact that they still can’t, speaks volumes about how far we still have to go,” said Amram Adar, Co-Founder and CEO of Oobit.
The numbers speak for themselves.
The survey revealed just how deep this behavior runs:
Across the board, users are engaging with crypto as a primary financial system. The behaviors are frequent, intentional and sophisticated.
This is what a crypto-native economy looks like: users building financial habits outside of traditional banking rails.
And when users try to spend, friction is everywhere.
Users cited consistent blockers:
Together, these barriers point to a fundamental failure in infrastructure. Fees are too high, access points are too limited and the experience is still too fragmented for crypto to feel like a true alternative to traditional payments.
That's the paradox. Despite the activity, there is no system built to meet those expectations - one that’s cost-effective, seamless and designed for daily use.
That’s not a product gap. It’s an ecosystem gap.
Brazil is a mirror - not an outlier.
This same shift is unfolding in Turkey, Nigeria, Indonesia and Argentina. Brazil just happens to be sounding the alarm first.
If stablecoins can’t work in Brazil, where there is a digitally fluent, high-trust, crypto-native economy, they’ll struggle everywhere until the rails catch up. The infrastructure just needs to meet them halfway.
The stablecoin era isn’t waiting. The question is whether the ecosystem can catch up.
What’s happening in Brazil is not a one-off. It’s a glimpse into a world where users are no longer just investors, but also participants. They’re not asking for crypto to be easier. They’re asking for it to be usable. The market is ready. The people are ready. What’s missing is the bridge to use it, which is exactly what we're here to build.