Tether's USDt stablecoin has remarkably asserted its market dominance and achieved new milestones in the fourth quarter of 2025, demonstrating unprecedented growth even as the broader cryptocurrency market experienced significant upheaval. This period saw USDt consolidate its position as the leading stablecoin, backed by robust reserves and a surge in on-chain activity, while also navigating the complexities of illicit use and expanding its strategic reach.
USDt's Unrivaled Market Expansion
Despite a challenging crypto market marked by widespread liquidations in October, USDt's market capitalization surged to a record $187.3 billion by the end of Q4 2025, an impressive increase of $12.4 billion in that quarter alone. This growth solidified USDt's lead, significantly outpacing rivals like Circle's USDC, which remained largely stagnant, and Ethena's USDe, which saw a considerable decline. Furthermore, on-chain activity reached new highs, with an average of 24.8 million monthly active USDt wallets, representing nearly 70% of all stablecoin wallets. Quarterly transfer volumes skyrocketed to $4.4 trillion across 2.2 billion on-chain transactions, underscoring USDt's widespread utility and adoption.
Strengthening Reserves and Strategic Development
Tether's financial foundation remained exceptionally strong, reporting total reserves of $192.9 billion and a net equity of $6.3 billion at the close of Q4. Its exposure to US Treasury bonds expanded to $141.6 billion, positioning Tether among the largest global holders of these assets. While USDt is widely utilized across legitimate applications like payments, remittances, and decentralized finance, the company is also actively confronting the challenge of illicit transfers, particularly on the Tron network. Tether has intensified its efforts by collaborating with TRM Labs and Tron to monitor and freeze illicit funds, addressing reports that indicate a significant portion of illicit stablecoin activity involves Tron-based USDt. Looking ahead, Tether is also strategically expanding its product offerings, having launched USAt—a US-compliant stablecoin—and partnered with Opera to integrate USDt and Tether Gold (XAUT) into MiniPay for broader digital payment access in emerging markets.
