Tether’s USDt, a dollar-pegged stablecoin, saw its market capitalization soar to $187.3 billion in Q4 2025, marking an increase of $12.4 billion during this period, even as the larger crypto market faltered following the liquidation event in October.
According to Tether’s latest quarterly report, the market cap for USDt expanded considerably while its counterparts struggled. Circle’s USDC, recognized as the second largest stablecoin, experienced fluctuating trends throughout Q4 but ended the period relatively stable. Moreover, Ethena’s synthetic dollar USDe, which ranks third among stablecoins on CoinMarketCap, saw a 57% drop.
USDt market cap. Source: Tether
Onchain engagement also hit remarkable levels, with monthly active USDt wallets rising to 24.8 million, representing about 70% of all stablecoin wallets. The total transfer volume escalated to $4.4 trillion, corresponding to 2.2 billion transfers.
At the close of Q4, Tether held total reserves of $192.9 billion, reflecting an increase of $11.7 billion from the preceding quarter. Notably, Tether’s stake in US Treasuries has surged to $141.6 billion, placing the company among the most significant holders worldwide.
Tether has reported that two-thirds of its USDt supply is managed through centralized exchanges and savings wallets, while the remaining third is linked to payment activities and Decentralized Finance (DeFi). Furthermore, USDt has been identified as the predominant stablecoin utilized in illicit transactions, with Bitrace reporting that $649 billion in stablecoin transactions were processed through high-risk blockchain addresses in 2024, with USDT based on Tron accounting for more than 70% of these actions.
To combat illegal usage, Tether has initiated collaborations with TRM Labs and Tron to monitor and halt illicit fund movements.
In January, Tether launched USAt, a dollar-pegged stablecoin tailored for the US market, compliant with the US GENIUS Act. This new stablecoin comes with a $10 million initial issuance on Ethereum.
Recently, Tether partnered with Opera to improve access to digital payments in emerging markets by integrating USDt and Tether Gold (XAUT) into Opera’s MiniPay wallet.
