Stablecoins* continue to strengthen their position as an alternative to traditional fiat currencies* and are increasingly used in international settlements.
* Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies whose value is pegged to a stable asset (most often a fiat currency such as the US dollar).
* Fiat currencies are conventional government-issued money that people use every day: dollars, euros, and other national currencies.
In 2024–2025, the stablecoin segment is showing record results — from growth in market capitalization and transaction activity to the expansion of its geographic reach.
1. The stablecoin market has grown more than 12× in five years
From 2020 to 2025, the total market capitalization* of stablecoins increased from $20 billion to $257 billion, setting a new all-time high.
* Market capitalization is the total market value of all issued stablecoins, calculated as the price of one token multiplied by the number of tokens in circulation.
Mainly, rapid growth occurred over the past year and a half: at the beginning of 2024, stablecoin market capitalization stood at just $123 billion. This surge is linked to both heightened interest in crypto assets and the launch of new stablecoins, including projects focused on the US and European markets.
As of June 2025, stablecoins account for more than 8% of the total crypto market capitalization.
2. Nearly 90% of the market is controlled by four stablecoins
The absolute leader remains USDT, which accounts for more than 60% of the market share. Meanwhile, the fifth-largest stablecoin—World Liberty Financial USD (USD1)—does not exceed a 1% share.
3. USDT is the leader in trading volumes on the crypto market
Although Bitcoin and Ethereum rank first by cryptocurrency market capitalization, Tether dominates in daily trading volume, as it serves as the base currency for most trading pairs on exchanges.
According to CoinMarketCap, in June 2025, USDT’s daily trading volume exceeded $62.2 billion, surpassing the combined volumes of BTC and ETH. Over the year, this figure increased by 1.5–2×.
4. In the DeFi sector, USDC outpaces Tether
Despite USDT’s market capitalization leadership, USDC is more in demand in the decentralized finance segment. It accounts for about 40% of the total value locked (TVL)* of stablecoins in DeFi protocols.
* Total value locked (TVL) is the total amount of funds placed and locked in DeFi protocols, indicating the level of usage and trust in these services.
For comparison, Tether’s share is around 25%. Experts attribute USDC’s popularity to its compliance with European MiCA* regulation, more transparent reporting, and stricter adherence to regulatory requirements.
* MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets) is a European law that regulates the cryptocurrency and stablecoin markets across the EU.
In addition, USDC shows higher market capitalization growth rates: about 90% versus 40% for USDT.
5. Stablecoins dominate crypto transactions
According to a TRM Labs study, about 60% of all cryptocurrency transactions today are conducted in stablecoins. Over two years, their share has nearly doubled, from 35% or less in 2023.
The main transaction volume traditionally falls on USDT. Additionally, ESMA data show that in secondary markets, up to 80% of transactions involving crypto assets and stablecoins occur without the use of fiat currencies.
This underscores the growing role of stablecoins in payment infrastructure, including cross-border settlements.
6. Quarterly transfer volume exceeded $2 trillion
According to Visa's analytics platform, in the first quarter of 2025, the volume of stablecoin transactions reached $2.04 trillion—40% more than a year earlier.
More than 60% of this volume came from USDT (about $1.2 trillion), while USDC accounted for approximately 38%.
7. Illegal stablecoin transactions account for less than 1%
TRM Labs analysts note that over 99% of stablecoin transactions in 2024 were legal. The main use cases for stablecoins are payments, DeFi, e-commerce, and international transfers.
The decline in illegal activity is linked to the active policies of centralized stablecoin issuers, which block suspicious addresses. For example, according to Dune Analytics, by June 2025, Tether had frozen about 1.4 billion USDT across more than 2,200 addresses.
8. The US and Singapore are leaders in stablecoin activity
The United States maintains a leading position in the number of stablecoin transactions; however, Singapore has nearly matched it, with each country accounting for about 20% of all operations.
The top five also include Hong Kong, Japan, and the United Kingdom. At the same time, stablecoin usage is growing especially fast in developing economies—Turkey, Thailand, Georgia, Brazil, and Venezuela.
9. USDT surpassed Visa in transaction volume
In June 2024, the volume of USDT transactions on the Tron network reached $53 billion, surpassing the figures of the Visa payment system ($42 billion) for the first time.
The growing popularity of crypto payments has pushed Visa and Mastercard to implement support for digital assets actively. In May 2025, Visa announced the launch of a platform for stablecoin payments and had previously partnered with the Solana ecosystem to support USDC.
The company is also testing crypto cards supporting USDT and USDC in Latin American countries and plans further expansion into Europe, Asia, and Africa.
10. Tether set an issuance record
May 2024 became a record month for Tether: on average, about $1 billion in USDT was issued per day, and total issuance exceeded $30 billion.
Since the beginning of 2025, the USDT supply has increased by nearly 15%, or $20.5 billion. Over the past year, more than $45 billion worth of new USDT tokens have entered circulation.