Original title: (Latest developments in the stablecoin sector: USDT market cap surpasses $150 billion for the first time, Tether and Circle consolidate their 'moat')
Original author: Weilin, PANews
On May 13, defillama data showed that the market cap of stablecoins reached $242.821 billion. Among them, Tether's USDT market cap surpassed $150 billion for the first time, reaching $150.663 billion, accounting for 62% of the market share. Following closely is Circle's USDC, which holds nearly 25% of the stablecoin market share. In recent months, there have been continuous developments regarding stablecoins in the crypto market, such as regulatory changes in the US, with Tether planning to launch a new dollar-backed stablecoin in the US later this year. Circle submitted a public offering registration application to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 1, planning to go public.
At the same time, giants with fintech genes like Stripe and PayPal are actively entering the space, combined with financial companies like BlackRock, traditional banks (such as Bank of America and Standard Chartered), and yield-bearing stablecoin projects. These companies are expected to challenge the current situation dominated by Tether and Circle, bringing more innovation to the stablecoin market and promoting widespread adoption. Stablecoins are being used for cross-border payments, DeFi protocols, and on-chain transactions, which a16z Crypto claims will bring about the 'WhatsApp moment' in the currency domain. In this article, PANews organizes recent developments in stablecoin initiatives by major tech and financial companies, providing a panoramic view of the sector and showcasing their industry impact.
Tech companies rushing into stablecoin payments: Stripe, PayPal, Coinbase, etc.
Stripe
On May 7 and 8, Stripe announced the launch of 'stablecoin financial accounts', allowing corporate users to hold account balances in stablecoins across 101 countries. Additionally, they released USDB through Bridge, a programmable stablecoin that developers can embed in their applications and earn rewards by building a USDB ecosystem.
Stripe completed the acquisition of the stablecoin infrastructure platform Bridge for $1.1 billion in February 2025, further promoting the application of stablecoins in global payments. Bridge supports payment processing for stablecoins such as USDC, and Visa recently launched a stablecoin-enabled payment card through Bridge.
PayPal
On April 23, PayPal announced that starting in 2025, US users holding PYUSD in their PayPal or Venmo balance would receive a 3.7% yield. By offering yields, they incentivize users to buy and hold stablecoins on their platform, while the use of PYUSD outside the platform can also bring more revenue to PayPal. The yield is just the first step, and there may be more initiatives in the future to drive PYUSD trading volume and integration.
Coinbase
On May 6, Coinbase launched the x 402 payment standard, a stablecoin payment standard designed specifically for internet-native payments, aiming for atomic-level transactions between APIs, applications, and AI agents.
Meta
On May 9, Fortune reported that Meta, three years after abandoning the Libra/Diem project, is in preliminary talks with several crypto companies regarding stablecoin applications, exploring cross-border payments for creators to reduce costs. Since January, former Plaid executive Ginger Baker has been serving as Meta's Vice President of Product, leading related initiatives.
MoneyGram
On May 7, MoneyGram launched 'MoneyGram Ramps', a cash deposit and withdrawal channel supporting stablecoins, covering over 170 countries. MoneyGram has a global cash network, providing a new way for stablecoins to interoperate with everyday consumption and spending.
Traditional payment giants strike back: Mastercard and Visa
On April 28, Mastercard announced partnerships with Circle, OKX, Paxos, and other trading platforms and wallets to launch broader stablecoin integration, allowing consumers to spend stablecoin balances through Mastercard cards. At the same time, merchants can directly settle fiat card payments as USDC.
As mentioned above, on April 30, Visa announced a partnership with Bridge, supported by Stripe, allowing fintech developers to issue Visa cards linked to stablecoins, enabling users to pay with stablecoin balances at fiat sales points through the Visa network. These products significantly lower the barriers for users to adopt stablecoins by integrating with existing payment systems. Users do not need to worry about whether merchants support stablecoin payments; they can simply use their linked Visa or Mastercard to make payments.
The two leading players, Circle and Tether, consolidate their 'moat', while Paxos initiates the stablecoin alliance.
Circle
On April 21, Circle announced partnerships with several global banks and stablecoin startups to launch the Circle Payments Network to improve international payments. Circle directly challenges SWIFT and the traditional banking network, attempting to replace their inefficient messaging services and payment processes. On April 1, Circle applied for an IPO. Circle submitted its application to list on the New York Stock Exchange, marking further recognition of the legitimacy of stablecoin payments.
Tether
With the expansion of the stablecoin market, on May 13, defillama data showed that the market cap of stablecoins reached $242.821 billion. Among them, Tether's USDT market cap surpassed $150 billion for the first time, reaching $150.663 billion, accounting for 62% of the market share. While USDT continues to grow, other stablecoins are also expanding, leading to a decline in USDT's market dominance from 70% to 62% over the past year. To maintain growth, USDT has taken bold steps to expand cross-chain capabilities, implementing a multi-chain token USDT 0 supported by LayerZero OFT and building a hub centered around Legacy Hub and Plasma. Through these methods, they are addressing past challenges. Additionally, Tether plans to launch a new dollar-backed stablecoin in the US later this year.
Ondo
On April 18, Ondo Finance announced that its US Treasury bond token USDY would launch on the Stellar blockchain. In May, Ondo launched a cross-chain bridging solution for USDY, enabling seamless transfers between the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and the Solana ecosystem. This is the first such solution for tokenized RWA, significantly enhancing USDY's interoperability and global accessibility. On May 12, Ondo Finance announced USDY's launch on the Latin American platform TruBit, supporting users from Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and other countries.
Paxos
Stablecoin issuer Paxos partnered with Anchorage Digital, Bullish, Galaxy Digital, Kraken, Nuvei, and Robinhood to launch the Global Dollar Network, an open network aimed at accelerating the use of global stablecoins. On April 14, Visa announced it would join the Global Dollar Network stablecoin alliance initiated by Paxos. On May 12, the Global Dollar Network stablecoin alliance announced 19 new members, including cryptocurrency exchange BitMart, cryptocurrency custody provider Zodia Custody, wallet provider Arculus, and stablecoin payment companies Beam, FOMO Pay, AlfredPay, and Noah.
World Liberty Financial
World Liberty Financial Inc. (WLFI) is the developer of a DeFi protocol and governance platform inspired by US President Trump. On March 25, the company announced plans to launch the stablecoin USD 1, which can be exchanged for US dollars (USD) on a 1:1 basis. The statement indicated that WLFI's USD 1 would be 100% backed by US short-term Treasury bonds, US dollar deposits, and other cash equivalents. Initially, the USD 1 token will be minted on the Ethereum (ETH) and Binance Smart Chain (BSC) blockchains, with plans to expand to other protocols in the future. Each token is pegged to a value of 1 dollar.
Ethena
On December 16, 2024, the DeFi project Ethena Labs announced the official launch of its new stablecoin USDtb. As a blockchain-based dollar stablecoin, 90% of USDtb's reserves are invested in BlackRock's tokenized fund BUIDL, in collaboration with leading real asset tokenization company Securitize.
As of May 13, defillama data showed that Ethena's synthetic dollar USDe is the third-largest dollar-pegged asset in the crypto market, with an issuance scale only behind USDT and USDC, and a market cap of $4.745 billion. On April 12, Ethena Labs launched the USDe reserve proof, which will be updated weekly. As of the snapshot on April 26, the supply of USDe tokens was 4.765 billion, with $44.695 million available in Ethena's mint/redemption contracts to meet redemption demands, and $60.95 million in reserve funds, with Copper managing assets totaling about $663 million.
On April 17, Ethena announced plans to launch the Converge blockchain focusing on real-world assets (RWA) in the second quarter of this year in partnership with asset tokenization platform Securitize. The mainnet will be built on Arbitrum and Celestia, supporting USDe and USDtb token payments for gas fees and maintaining security through staking ENA. On May 1, Ethena Labs announced a partnership with the TON blockchain to integrate its USDe product into Telegram, reaching its one billion users. The collaboration includes integration with non-custodial TON wallets, custodial wallets within Telegram, and TON DeFi applications. On May 5, Ethena Labs also announced that USDe has been launched on Hyperliquid and HyperEVM.
Traditional banks entering the stablecoin market: Bank of America, Standard Chartered
Bank of America
On May 3, Bank of America stated that it is willing to issue its own stablecoin if Congress enacts related legislation. Bank of America is the second-largest lending institution in the United States, and its CEO Brian Moynihan previously stated, "As long as legislation allows, we will enter the stablecoin business."
Standard Chartered
On February 17, Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong), Animoca Brands, and HKT announced that they had reached an agreement to establish a joint venture (JV) and plan to apply for a license from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) to issue a Hong Kong dollar-backed stablecoin.
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