European policymakers are actively evaluating Ethereum's potential to serve as a sovereign-level settlement infrastructure for a euro stablecoin, moving beyond experimental pilots. This marks a significant shift in regulatory thinking, where public, permissionless blockchains are being assessed for their transparency, security, and uptime to meet official monetary system standards. The discussion centers on whether Ethereum can function as the foundational layer for government-grade financial operations.
Concurrently, Ethereum's role in on-chain finance is being cemented by unprecedented stablecoin activity. Market expert Joseph Young revealed that stablecoin transfer volume on the Ethereum network reached a new all-time high in Q4 2025, with over $8 trillion settled in just three months. This figure surpasses the average quarterly payment volume of Visa, which stands at approximately $4 trillion.
"This is actual money being moved, settled, and cleared on the blockchain," Young noted, emphasizing Ethereum's dominance as the primary financial layer for stablecoin transactions. He argues that ETH is becoming the trusted settlement layer for money, with no rival chain matching its financial reach.
Further reinforcing its foundational role, payments giant Stripe has expanded its crypto support to include Ethereum through its on- and off-ramp services. This integration focuses on backend financial operations like crypto-native settlement, payouts, and treasury flows, positioning Ethereum within global payment infrastructure.
Despite this massive utility, analysts point to a significant valuation gap. Financial expert BMNR Bullz highlighted that while Ethereum secures about 59% of all capital in the DeFi sector, it constitutes only slightly over 14% of the total cryptocurrency market value. "When price doesn’t reflect where capital actually lives, it’s usually the price that’s wrong," Bullz added. At the time of reporting, ETH was trading at $3,233, up over 2% in 24 hours with a 42% surge in trading volume.
