Key Takeaways
- Tether’s USDT supply grew by over $5 billion, reaching approximately $189.7 billion.
- USDC, USDe, and PYUSD lost a combined $4.2 billion as net stablecoin growth stalls at just 0.3%.
- Ethena’s USDe is down 34% year-to-date since October 2025, signaling structural pressure on synthetic dollars.
Tether Consolidates Grip as Rivals Retreat
According to data, USDT’s net growth over the past month stands at roughly $900 million (0.3% of the total supply), as nearly every dollar entering the market is a Tether dollar replacing a redeemed USDC, USDe, or PYUSD position.
USDT’s circulating supply now sits at approximately $189.7 billion, giving it close to 60% of the total stablecoin market. When combined with USDC, the two incumbents account for roughly 93% of the entire category.
Tether’s monthly gain of over $5 billion does not appear to reflect new money entering the stablecoin sector but rather a rotation from competing products back into the perceived safety and liquidity of USDT.
The sharpest pain is visible in relation to Ethena, as the synthetic dollar protocol’s USDe has declined 28% over the past month and is down approximately 34% year-to-date, with sustained outflows running since October 2025. Paypal’s PYUSD and Circle’s USDC have also posted declines over the same window, though neither at the same severity as USDe.
The dynamics reflect two converging forces. First, the regulatory environment in the U.S. has tilted toward Tether’s positioning: pending stablecoin legislation, primarily the GENIUS Act, which the Senate is working to finalize, has raised compliance questions for newer algorithmic and synthetic instruments, nudging institutional users toward more established issuers. Second, broader risk-off sentiment in the market has historically pushed capital toward the most liquid stablecoin, which remains USDT by a wide margin.
Bitcoin.com News reported on the stablecoin market crossing $320 billion last month, a milestone at the time accompanied by a slight dip in Tether’s dominance share. The latest data suggests that dip has since reversed, with Tether reasserting control even as total market growth stalls.
For decentralized finance ( DeFi) protocols that rely on USDe and PYUSD as collateral or liquidity layers, the continued compression of those supplies is likely to have downstream effects on borrowing rates and yield opportunities across lending markets.
