Stablecoin Market Cap Hits Record-High As It Nears $200M, Tether Dominates

Amidst expectations of a crypto-friendly government after Trump’s victory, the cryptocurrency prices are soaring, and so is the demand for stablecoins. Strikingly, the overall value of the digital-assets market has risen by nearly a trillion dollars since the election. With Bitcoin and SOL reaching newer heights, stablecoin has also joined the record-breaking streak as it achieved a record market cap. 

In a remarkable milestone, the combined market size of stablecoins has hit a record $190 billion this month, as per a report from CCData. Its previous all-time high was $188 billion, recorded in April 2022 just before the collapse of Terra-Luna stablecoin

Tether Dominates

Tether’s USDT continues to dominate the stablecoin sector as the token’s market cap rose 10% over the past month to a new peak of $132 billion. Circle’s USDC, grew 12% to a nearly $39 billion market cap, which is the highest since the March 2023 regional banking crisis that heavily impacted the token. USDT has a 69.9% market share currently, while USDC is the second-largest with a 20.5% share.

As per a report from Bloomberg, Tether aims to broaden usage of USDT by pushing into new industries including commodities. It recently announced the funding of its first crude oil transaction in the Middle East. 

38 of 200 Tokens Record ATHs!

Remarkably, 38 of the nearly 200 tokens tracked achieved a new all-time high supply over the past month. The report noted that Ethena’s USDe saw a 42% increase to a new record of $3.8 billion in November. The token generates yield to investors by holding spot BTC and ETH and simultaneously shorting (selling) an equal amount of perpetual futures farming the funding rate.

The broad-market crypto rally also boosted trading volumes with stablecoin pairs on centralized exchanges, rising 77% month-over-month to $1.8 trillion. Notably, USDT was responsible for about 83% of the volumes, followed by Hong Kong-based First Digital’s FDUSD 9% and USDC’s 8% share.

Tether To Stop Supporting EUR₮

In a latest development, Tether has announced the discontinuation of its euro stablecoin, EUR₮, ceasing the processing of new minting requests since 2022, citing the increasingly complex regulatory environment surrounding stablecoins in Europe. 

Tether is shifting its focus to support new projects, such as the introduction of new stablecoins EURQ and USDQ, developed in collaboration with Quantoz Payments and compliant with MiCAR regulations.