Tether's dollar-pegged stablecoin USDt rose to a record market cap of $187.3 billion within the fourth quarter of 2025, at the same time as the broader crypto market slumped following October's liquidation cascade.
According to the newest quarterly report, USDt (USDT) market capitalization increased by $12.4 billion within the fourth quarter.
Data shows that USDt has expanded its dominance while competitors have declined.
Following the most important liquidation event on October 10, the market cap of Circles USDC (USDC), the second-largest stablecoin, fluctuated throughout the rest of the fourth quarter but ended the period largely unchanged. Ethereum's synthetic dollar USDe (USDE), ranked third amongst stablecoins on CoinMarketCap, fell 57%.
USDt market cap. Source: Tether
USDt onchain activity hits records
Onchain activity also reached recent highs. The average variety of monthly energetic USDt wallets increased to 24.8 million, accounting for nearly 70% of all stablecoin wallets. Quarterly transfer volume increased to $4.4 trillion, while on-chain transfers increased to 2.2 billion.
Tether reported total reserves of $192.9 billion at the tip of the fourth quarter, up $11.7 billion from the previous quarter, leaving net equity of $6.3 billion. Its exposure to U.S. Treasuries rose to $141.6 billion, making it amongst the biggest holders on the planet and ahead of several sovereign nations.
Tether buys more US government bonds. Source: Tether
The data also suggests a comparatively stable user base. About two-thirds of the USDt supply is held in savings banks and centralized exchanges, while the remaining third supports activities related to payments, remittances and decentralized finance.
USDt can also be probably the most commonly used stablecoin for illegal transfers. Bitrace reported that in 2024, $649 billion price of stablecoins, or about 5.14% of total stablecoin transaction volume, flowed through high-risk blockchain addresses, with Tron-based USDt accounting for greater than 70% of the activity.
Tether has increased its efforts to curb illegal use and launched cooperation programs with TRM Labs and Tron to observe and freeze illegal funds.
Tether launches a stablecoin that complies with the GENIUS Act
In January, Tether launched USAt, a US dollar-pegged stablecoin designed specifically for the US market. Issued by Anchorage Digital Bank, USAt is a US GENIUS Act-compliant stablecoin with an initial supply of $10 million on Ethereum.
On Monday, Tether and Opera partnered to expand access to digital payments in emerging markets by integrating USDt and Tether Gold (XAUT) into Opera's MiniPay wallet.
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