The total stablecoin market capitalization in the Ethereum ecosystem has grown astronomically, surging approximately 1 million-fold since ETH first reached $1,400 in January 2018. As of May 6, 2025, the stablecoin market cap on Ethereum reached around $124.5 billion, a dramatic rise from just $124,500 seven years prior, according to DeFi Llama. Tether (USDT) remains the dominant stablecoin, contributing about 52% (~$64.7 billion) of Ethereum's total stablecoin market cap, followed by USD Coin (USDC), USDe, USDS, and DAI. Despite a tiny decline of 0.08% ($100 million) in the past week, activity is strong: ETH's daily trading volume increased by 4.10% compared to the previous day, with the token trading at $1,804 after a 10.9% jump in the last two weeks. ETH's overall market cap exceeds $216 billion.
Ethereum is also preparing for a major protocol upgrade this month, aiming to improve on-chain scalability, user experience, and validator efficiency. A key feature is EIP-7251, which will raise the maximum stake for validators from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH.