Tether (USDT), the world’s largest stablecoin, has reached a historic milestone with over $150 billion in circulation. CEO Paolo Ardoino confirmed the development on X, highlighting the growing demand for the dollar-pegged crypto asset.
USDT now represents 5% of the entire crypto market cap
The figure marks an all-time high for USDT and reinforces Tether’s dominance in the stablecoin sector. At $150 billion, USDT alone now accounts for roughly 4.3% of the total crypto market cap, which stands at just over $3.5 trillion as of May 14, based on CoinGecko data.
This surge in supply comes on the back of Tether’s ballooning profits. In Q1 2025, the company reported over $1 billion in operating profit, driven largely by returns from its vast holdings of short-dated U.S. Treasurys.
Tether now has nearly $120 billion in exposure to U.S. government debt at the time of writing, including indirect holdings via money market funds and reverse repurchase agreements.
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Tron Surpasses Ethereum in USDT Circulation
One of the biggest developments is the shift in where USDT is issued. Tether has now minted more than $73 billion USDT on the Tron blockchain at the time of writing, surpassing Ethereum for the first time.
Ethereum had long been the leading network for USDT, but Tron’s lower fees and faster transactions finality have made it a favourite, particularly in emerging markets and among retail users.
In contrast, USD Coin (USDC), issued by Circle, has a total circulating supply of around $60 billion, which is less than half of USDT’s. Other rising stablecoins like Ethena’s USDe, Sky’s USDS, and Donald Trump-backed USD1 still trail far behind, each with market caps below $10 billion.
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Tether’s explosive growth also means it now ranks just behind Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and XRP in market cap, solidifying its place as the fourth most valuable global crypto asset. Its widespread use in trading, remittances, and decentralized finance (DeFi) has made it an indispensable tool across crypto ecosystems globally.
At the time of writing, BTC has a market cap of $2.1 trillion while ETH and XRP boast $326 billion and $151 billion, respectively.
