Tether’s USDt Achieves Record $187 Billion Market Cap Amidst Crypto Market Contraction

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Tether’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, USDt, expanded to a record $187.3 billion market capitalization in the fourth quarter of 2025. This milestone was achieved even as the broader digital asset market, including major tokens like Bitcoin and Ethereum, faced a significant downturn following a severe liquidation cascade in October.

According to its latest quarterly attestation, the USDt market cap grew by a substantial $12.4 billion during the quarter.

The data indicates a period of widening dominance for USDt as competing stablecoins lost ground. After the major liquidation event on October 10, the market capitalization of Circle’s USDC, the second-largest stablecoin, fluctuated but ended the quarter largely unchanged. In stark contrast, Ethena’s synthetic dollar USDe, ranked third, witnessed a dramatic 57% decline.

Concurrently, onchain activity for USDt soared to unprecedented levels. The average count of monthly active USDt wallets climbed to 24.8 million, representing nearly 70% of all stablecoin-holding addresses. The quarterly transfer volume surged to an astounding $4.4 trillion, supported by a total of 2.2 billion onchain transfers.

Furthermore, Tether reported total reserves of $192.9 billion at the quarter’s close, an increase of $11.7 billion, resulting in a net equity of $6.3 billion. Notably, its exposure to US Treasuries grew to $141.6 billion, a position that now places Tether among the world’s largest holders and ahead of the treasury reserves of several sovereign nations.