Tether’s USDT is expanding its supply on the TRON chain, with implications for DeFi and general liquidity. The TRC-20 version now has a greater supply than the Ethereum token for the first time since November 2024.
The supply of USDT on TRON has been growing in the past weeks, surpassing the tokens available on Ethereum for the first time since November 2024. The shift in supply has a positive impact for DeFi on TRON, as well as general usage for payments.
The founder of TRON, Justin Sun, expects the supply to expand to 75B tokens in the near future, from around 73.7B after the latest mints. The expansion on TRON also led Tether’s supply to over 150B tokens for the first time, reaching an estimated 400M users through wallets and fintech apps.
We are nearing $75B USDT on #TRON and we’re not stopping!
Thanks for having me on!💪 https://t.co/Q1j5nnYv1t
— H.E. Justin Sun 🍌 (@justinsuntron) May 13, 2025
In 2025, most of the new Tether mints are on TRON, while some of the ERC-20 tokens were retired. In total, Ethereum carried 71.3B USDT after several burns, still remaining one of the main networks for payments, DEX trading and centralized markets.
The supply of USDT on TRON expanded rapidly, while the Ethereum version declined with several token burns. | Source: Cryptoquant
USDT makes up around 53% of all stablecoins on Ethereum, but remains the key stablecoin on TRON. The chain has produced only negligible tests on other stablecoin, as USDT makes up 99% of the total stablecoin liquidity. USDT is also expanding on BNB Smart Chain, making up 73% of the stablecoin supply.
USDT still has highly active daily turnover, with more than $59B in total trading volumes. Even in the case of stricter regulations, the asset will have years to adapt and fulfill some of the requirements, while still tapping demand from markets with fewer restrictions.
USDT on TRON grows on international demand
One of the fastest-growing was the TRON supply, which began at about $1 billion in 2020 and continued to grow steadily. Centralized exchanges have embraced the token extensively, and Binance is now one of the largest holders of this USDT version.
The expansion of TRC-20 tokens also underscores the global usage of USDT. This version is used on exchanges and locations not constrained by EU regulations, or the upcoming US stablecoin restrictions proposed in a new bill.
The extra minting on TRON also led to increased whale usage and growing token transfers. In May, the usage of USDT on TRON picked up for some of the biggest wallet cohorts.
Whale activity picked up for USDT on TRON in May. | Source: Dune Analytics
Although the majority of users currently own less than $100 USDT, whales account for the majority of the volume. Compared to Ethereum, traffic on TRON exhibits a significantly higher turnover rate with consistent daily activity that peaks during Asian market hours.
The increased supply of USDT boosted the native TRX token. The asset has held its price levels during multiple downturns, and recently recovered again to $0.27. The TRON network aims to generally increase its activity through memes, DeFi and centralized trading on HTX.
The TRON network holds $6.64B in value locked in its decentralized ecosystem, with renewed growth since May 10. The rising price of TRX and more active lending are helping the ecosystem to recover from the recent lows in Q1.
KEY Difference Wire helps crypto brands break through and dominate headlines fast
