Tether’s dollar‑pegged stablecoin USDt reached a record $187.3 billion market capitalization in Q4 2025, even as the crypto market retracted after October’s liquidation cascade. Tether’s report shows USDT’s market cap rose $12.4 billion during the quarter, broadening its lead while competitors contracted.
Following the Oct. 10 liquidation event, Circle’s USDC—the second‑largest stablecoin—ended Q4 largely flat after intraquarter volatility. Ethena’s synthetic dollar USDe, ranked third on CoinMarketCap, plunged about 57%.
Onchain use of USDt hit new highs. Average monthly active USDt wallets climbed to 24.8 million, roughly 70% of all stablecoin‑holding wallets. Quarterly onchain transfer volume surged to $4.4 trillion and onchain transfers reached 2.2 billion.
Tether reported total reserves of $192.9 billion at quarter end, up $11.7 billion quarter‑over‑quarter, leaving net equity of $6.3 billion. Its holdings of U.S. Treasurys rose to $141.6 billion, putting Tether among the largest global holders of Treasurys, ahead of several sovereign entities.
About two‑thirds of USDt supply sits in savings wallets and centralized exchanges; the remaining third supports payments, remittances and DeFi activity.
USDt remains the most used stablecoin in illicit transfers. Bitrace reported $649 billion in stablecoins—about 5.14% of total stablecoin transaction volume—flowed through high‑risk blockchain addresses in 2024, with Tron‑based USDT accounting for more than 70% of that activity. Tether has increased efforts to curb misuse through programs with TRM Labs and Tron to monitor and freeze illicit funds.
In January, Tether launched USAt, a dollar‑pegged stablecoin tailored for the U.S. market, issued by Anchorage Digital Bank with a $10 million initial supply on Ethereum and designed to comply with the proposed GENIUS Act. Tether also partnered with Opera to integrate USDt and Tether Gold (XAUT) into Opera’s MiniPay wallet to expand digital payment access in emerging markets.
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