Use case · subscriptions

Subscriptions and recurring payments

The subscription economy is migrating to stablecoins for two reasons: zero merchant fees compared to 2.9% credit card processing, and on-chain transparency of recurring debits. Token-streaming (Sablier, Superfluid) and signed-permission pulls (Stripe, EIP-2612) are the two dominant patterns.

Updated today
Market size
Updated 1d ago
Addressable market
$480.0B
Annual volume
$6.4B
Growth (YoY)
+95.0%
Merchant fee saved
2.6pp
vs credit cards
How it works

How it works

Two patterns: (a) Streaming — the subscriber delegates a token stream to the merchant via Sablier or Superfluid, the merchant pulls a slice per second/block until the user revokes. (b) Scheduled pull — the subscriber signs an EIP-2612 permit allowing the merchant to charge a fixed amount on a cadence with a defined cap.

  1. 01 Merchant publishes subscription terms (amount, cadence, cap) as smart contract
  2. 02 Subscriber signs permit or starts stream from their wallet
  3. 03 Merchant pulls funds on cadence (or claims streamed slice)
  4. 04 Subscriber can revoke at any time; refunds are pre-defined in contract
  5. 05 Accounting and disputes resolved on-chain with full audit trail
Real-world examples

Real-world examples

Stripe Subscription billing in USDC

~$2.1B in 2025

Stripe's USDC subscription product launched in 2025 supports recurring debits via EIP-2612 permits, with auto-conversion to fiat on the merchant side.

Sablier streaming payroll

12K orgs

Sablier's per-second token streams power subscription-like payroll for 12K crypto-native orgs, replacing monthly bank transfers.

Key players

Key players

Stablecoins
usdc dai
Chains
base ethereum polygon
Projects
stripe circle
Where it's strongest

Where it's strongest

United StatesEuropean UnionSingapore
Challenges

Challenges

  • ● Limited consumer wallet support for streaming standards
  • ● Tax accounting complexity for per-second income recognition
  • ● Subscription discovery — no equivalent of App Store for stablecoin-native subs yet
Future outlook

Future outlook

Stripe's USDC subscriptions are the wedge that pulls existing SaaS into stablecoin rails. Expect ~$25B annual volume by 2028 as B2B SaaS adopts USDC defaults and consumer streaming wallets ship. EIP-7702 account abstraction may enable seamless one-click subs from EOA wallets in 2026.

More context

For live data on the stablecoins powering this use case, see their individual fichas linked above.