Tether holds 66% of stablecoin market with $14B profit

Tether’s (CRYPTO:USDT) USDT stablecoin continues to dominate the US dollar-pegged stablecoin market despite growing competition, according to data from Web3 research firm Nansen as of April 25, 2025.  

USDT commands approximately 66% market share, while Circle’s USDC (CRYPTO:USDC) holds around 28%, and Ethena’s USDe stablecoin ranks third with just over 2%.  

“Tether is by and far the largest use case of onchain activity, with nearly 3x as many users as Uniswap and 50+% more transactions than the next app,” Nansen noted.

The report also highlighted a “winner-takes-most” dynamic in the stablecoin market despite faster growth rates seen by USDC.  

Tether is the most profitable stablecoin issuer, generating nearly $14 billion in profits in 2024.  

The company earns revenue by accepting US dollars to mint USDT and investing those funds into highly liquid, yield-bearing instruments such as US Treasury bills.  

“Given the growth of USDT and USDC, the users are clearly expressing that they do not necessarily care about the yield as they are forgoing it to Tether and Circle — they simply want access to the most liquid and ‘stable’/ least-likely-to-depeg stablecoin out there,” Nansen explained.

USDC’s adoption accelerated since November 2024 following a more favorable regulatory environment in the United States after the presidential election.  

The report noted USDC’s appeal to institutions requiring regulatory clarity but also pointed to rising competition from traditional financial institutions like Fidelity, PayPal, and banks entering the stablecoin market.  

New stablecoins such as PayPal’s PYUSD (CRYPTO:PYUSD) and Ripple USD (CRYPTO:RLUSD) are gaining traction, while payment processor Stripe plans to launch a stablecoin product after acquiring Bridge last year.  

Ethena’s (CRYPTO:USDE) yield-bearing USDe stablecoin, launched in 2024, remains competitive due to integrations with centralized exchanges and DeFi protocols, offering an average annualized yield of about 19%.  

These developments illustrate a stablecoin market evolving with regulatory influences and increasing competition, yet Tether’s USDT maintains a significant lead in market share and on-chain usage

At the time of reporting, the Tether price was $1.00.