The global stablecoin market has reached a significant milestone, with its total market capitalization climbing to $317.94 billion in early 2026. This growth underscores the critical role stablecoins now play as infrastructure within the digital asset ecosystem, providing essential liquidity for traders, institutions, decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, and cross-border payments.
Stablecoins now represent 9.90% of the total cryptocurrency market, a dominance level that signals a structural shift in how participants interact with digital assets. Investors increasingly rotate into stablecoins during periods of volatility, while real-world utility expands in areas like remittances, on-chain settlements, and yield-generating strategies.
Tether (USDT) solidifies its leadership position, commanding 60.68% of the stablecoin market with a capitalization of $187.0 billion. Its average daily trading volume of $100.8 billion far outpaces competitors, cementing its status as the primary liquidity vehicle across both centralized and decentralized markets.
USD Coin (USDC) maintains a strong institutional presence as the second-largest stablecoin, with a market cap of $75.7 billion and a 24-hour trading volume of $14.2 billion. Its transparent and regulated model continues to attract institutional adoption.
Emerging and decentralized stablecoins are gaining ground. Ethena's USDe holds a $6.3 billion market cap, while MakerDAO's DAI stands at $5.3 billion. PayPal's PYUSD has grown to $3.6 billion, indicating increased involvement from traditional fintech players. Newer entrants like USD1, USDf, USDG, and RLUSD demonstrate ongoing innovation in the sector.
Separate data from Token Terminal reveals that stablecoin issuers generated nearly $5 billion in revenue from their deployments on the Ethereum network in 2025. This revenue is primarily derived from yield earned on collateral assets. The report highlights that issuers leverage Ethereum to expand distribution, reduce costs, and offer more transparent, liquid, and composable products.
Ethereum's role as the primary settlement layer is underscored by record-breaking volume. Stablecoin transfers on Ethereum in Q4 2025 surpassed $8 trillion, nearly double the Q2 volume of ~$4 trillion. Total stablecoin issuance on Ethereum grew 43% in 2025, from $127 billion to $181 billion. The network now holds a 57% market share of all issued stablecoins, a figure that surges to over 70% when including EVM and Layer 2 networks.
In terms of issuer revenue for 2025, Tether led with over $5 billion, followed by Circle at $2.4 billion, and SKY at $363.9 million. Weekly revenue figures for December 2025 show Tether's revenue fluctuating between roughly $97 million and $104 million, while Circle's ranged from approximately $46 million to $50 million.
