Stablecoin reaches a record value of 271.1 billion USD, with USDC leading on Ethereum and USDT dominating the TRON network.
The growth and fragmentation of stablecoins drive significant volatility across major blockchains, while also creating opportunities for new projects under strict legal frameworks.
MAIN CONTENT
The total value of stablecoins has hit a historical peak of 271.1 billion USD, evenly distributed among major blockchains.
USDC establishes its position on Ethereum thanks to DeFi integration, while USDT dominates the TRON network with record trading volumes.
USD1 appears on TRON, complying with strict U.S. regulations, opening a new direction for stablecoins.
Stablecoins hit 271.1 billion USD – What is driving this market explosion?
At the time of update, the total value of stablecoins has reached 271.1 billion USD, marking a new record according to data from DeFiLlama.
This reflects the rapidly growing demand for stablecoins across different blockchains, especially as DeFi applications become increasingly popular.
The stablecoin market is witnessing fierce competition for leadership positions, as no single coin dominates absolutely across all platforms anymore. Instead, each blockchain network attracts a distinct user group and different projects. According to The Block report in 2025, the fragmentation among major stablecoins helps diversify capital sources and reduce systemic risk for investors.
Stablecoins continue to be the lifeblood of the DeFi and cryptocurrency ecosystem. The increase in market capitalization is proof of market confidence, despite regulatory concerns.
Janet Yellen, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, speaks at the Blockchain New York 2025 seminar (Source: Bloomberg, 07/2025)
Market share: Who is leading the global stablecoin market?
Although USDT still holds 60% of the global market share, this role is changing significantly depending on the blockchain ecosystem.
USDT continues to lead in market capitalization but no longer has absolute dominance across all networks. According to CoinGecko in August 2025, USDT is dominant on TRON, while USDC has emerged strongly on Ethereum thanks to deep integration with DeFi products.
The current stablecoin market heavily depends on technical characteristics, types of users, and the interoperability and liquidity between different blockchains. This fragmentation requires investors to analyze the market context of each network to maximize the benefits of each stablecoin.
Tracking stablecoin capital flows between blockchains is a strong indicator of market sentiment and short-term cash flow trends.
Glassnode, Q2 2025 stablecoin market report (Source: Glassnode, 06/2025)
What is USDC?
USDC is a stablecoin issued by Circle, ensuring a 1:1 ratio with USD and is a leading liquidity solution on Ethereum due to its regulatory compliance and integration into DeFi protocols.
The advantage of USDC lies in the transparency of asset reserves, being regularly audited, and primarily focused on the Ethereum blockchain. According to Circle's report, USDC is backed by USD reserves held at major U.S. banks, complying with U.S. regulatory requirements as well as those of traditional financial partners.
The success of USDC comes not only from guarantees but also from high liquidity, transaction speed, and the ease of connecting with hundreds of small and large DApps on Ethereum.
What reasons help USDC surpass USDT on Ethereum?
CryptoOnChain's August 2025 report indicates that USDC has officially seen strong growth on Ethereum, surpassing USDT in both average trading volume and DeFi integration.
USDC has an advantage on Ethereum due to three factors: integration with DeFi, reserves monitored in the U.S., and a commitment to data transparency. According to statistics, on average, USDC processes over 20 billion USD daily over 7 days, far surpassing USDT (ranging from 12~15 billion USD/day).
The cross-border payment scalability, transparent reserves, and control by compliant organizations are factors that contribute to USDC's credibility, especially within the DeFi community.
Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, Money20/20 Europe 2025 conference (Source: Reuters, 06/2025)
The shift of capital from USDT to USDC on Ethereum also stems from changes in legal requirements, demanding stricter control of the source of funds and prioritizing transparency. Meanwhile, USDT, traditionally a choice, performs better on other networks.
DeFi on Ethereum: How deeply is USDC integrated?
USDC has become a liquidity center in the Ethereum DeFi ecosystem thanks to integration with major protocols (Aave, Uniswap, Compound…).
According to Dune Analytics (2025), USDC is directly linked to over 200 DApps, accounting for nearly 50% of the total stablecoin value on AMMs and Lending Protocols. This explains why USDC maintains a solid position despite a lower total market cap than USDT.
These solutions make USDC more convenient for staking, yield farming, and payments compared to competitors. Additionally, support from major platforms further solidifies USDC's position against international regulatory changes.
Where does USDT currently lead?
USDT asserts its strength on the TRON network with superior transaction volumes and users, according to CryptoQuant statistics from August 2025.
USDT leverages low transaction fees and high processing speeds on TRON to support retail users and large exchanges. The increasing demand in emerging markets or countries with restricted currency conversion makes USDT-TRC20 a popular remittance channel. Kaiko's report indicates that over 65% of USDT's on-chain trading volume in recent months has been recorded on the TRON network.
The strong increase in stablecoin trading on TRON is a major front for USDT, reflecting the demand for flexible liquidity on major centralized exchanges like Binance.
Kaiko Research, Blockchain stablecoin analysis report Q3 2025 (Source: Kaiko, 08/2025)
What drove the record increase in USDT trading on TRON?
According to a report by Arab Chain citing CryptoQuant data, the number of transactions sending USDT-TRC20 to exchanges exceeded 1 million in the first seven days of August 2025—the highest in many months.
Leverage mainly comes from Binance and exchanges like Bybit, HTX, with push from retail investors. CryptoQuant data confirms that the increase in transaction volume is primarily measured by the number of transactions rather than USD volume, demonstrating an expanding user base.
The explosive growth of USDT on TRON is due to cheap transfer fees, convenience, and support for many regions with a demand for cross-border money transfers or fast transactions on centralized exchanges.
DAI ranks third on Ethereum: What is DAI's role in the stablecoin ecosystem?
DAI maintains its position as the third largest by total trading volume, currently accounting for nearly 26% of total stablecoin transfers according to CryptoQuant 2025.
The advantage of DAI lies in its decentralized approach, not being entirely controlled according to a corporate model or a single issuing organization. This suits investors who value independence. According to the MakerDAO Foundation, DAI is not significantly impacted by U.S. legal events, helping to balance an increasingly regulated stablecoin ecosystem.
The success of DAI emphasizes the need for asset diversification in DeFi, avoiding the risk of reliance on a single stablecoin source on Ethereum.
TRON – The leverage for USDT: What makes TRON superior for stablecoins?
TRON becomes the ideal blockchain for stablecoins due to low fees, fast transaction speeds, and large scalability, facilitating large cash flows as well as small retail investors.
Data from DefiLlama (2025) shows that more than 65% of the total stablecoin volume on TRON is USDT, far surpassing competing stablecoins thanks to its wide network and strong support from centralized exchanges. This fragmentation makes TRON the main network for retail users, cross-border money transfers, and small-scale OTC transactions.
A significant difference is that while Ethereum is a playground for institutional investors and complex solutions, TRON focuses on serving the needs of stable, fast, and low-cost transactions for the majority of users.
Stablecoin USD1 launches on TRON – What is USD1 and why is it prominent?
USD1 is a new stablecoin issued on TRON under the GENIUS Act regulations of the United States, with the first batch issued valued at up to 23 million USD on August 6, 2025.
The strength of USD1 lies in its completely transparent issuance structure, subject to strict control over asset reserves according to U.S. standards. Although its market cap is smaller than USDT and USDC, USD1 demonstrates sustainable growth in both value and transaction volume. According to CryptoQuant, this is a sign that customers are increasingly seeking safer alternatives in the stablecoin market.
The issuance of stablecoins under direct supervision helps build trust for both institutional and individual investors while expanding the innovation space on major blockchains.
Rakuten Blockchain Insights, 2025 stablecoin market analysis (Source: Rakuten, 08/2025)
How does the U.S. GENIUS Act affect the stablecoin market?
The GENIUS Act – a U.S. law that came into effect in mid-July 2025 – creates a legal framework for stablecoins like USD1 regarding reserve management, issuance control, and financial reporting responsibilities.
The introduction of the GENIUS Act means that new stablecoins wishing to reach U.S. customers must publicly disclose their asset reserves, conduct regular audits, and be directly supervised by U.S. financial authorities. This helps reduce fraud risks, protect investor rights, and motivates stablecoin projects to focus on transparency and asset safety.
This shifting trend is expected to spread, prompting global stablecoin issuers to elevate transparency standards to access large markets like the U.S. and Europe.
What is the impact of stablecoin fragmentation on the DeFi ecosystem and exchanges?
The division of stablecoins leads to more diverse liquidity options, reducing systemic risk from dependence on a single token, while DeFi projects and exchanges must also integrate multiple stablecoin standards to meet user demands.
These shifts reinforce resilience for both the market and the ecosystem while creating opportunities for new projects to enter the market. Cross-chain interoperability between stablecoins is also becoming a new criterion for measuring competitiveness in the DeFi space.
In reality, major protocols increasingly prioritize developing “bridges” or integrating multiple stablecoins simultaneously to attract diverse cash flows and reduce the impact of the volatility of individual stablecoins.
Comparison of growth rates and market shares between USDT, USDC, and USD1
Data aggregated until August 2025 shows that USDT remains the number one stablecoin by global market cap, while USDC leads strongly on Ethereum, and USD1 has emerged on TRON under the new legal framework.
Stablecoin Market Capitalization (Estimates) Strongest Network Average Daily Transactions Highlights USDT Over 160 billion USD TRON 1 million+ Transfers/7 days Cheap fees, large scale, globally popular USDC Over 70 billion USD Ethereum 20 billion USD/day Compliance, transparency, superior DeFi USD1 23 million USD (newly issued) TRON Steadily increasing Under U.S. regulatory standards, safe, novel
Future trends: How will stablecoins evolve?
Experts predict stablecoins will continue to grow robustly in terms of network diversification, deep DeFi integration, and transparency to international standards.
According to Chainalysis (2025), stablecoins will increasingly focus on regulatory compliance, transparent reserve assets, and cross-chain convertibility. Projects that meet stringent standards for reserve management, auditing, and user protection will have a significant advantage as the global market continues to tighten regulations.
The U.S. move with the GENIUS Act creates a template model for policy in many other countries, forecasting a more intense cycle of innovation and competition in the stablecoin sector in the near future.
We are witnessing an evolutionary phase of stablecoins from spontaneous to competitive standards, contributing to building a bridge between traditional finance and global DeFi.
Caitlin Long, CEO of Custodia Bank, Web3 Summit 2025 panel (Source: Fortune, 08/2025)
Frequently asked questions about the current stablecoin market
1. What are the main differences between USDT and USDC?
USDT is globally popular, operates strongly on TRON, with low transfer fees; USDC focuses on Ethereum, with transparent reserves and regular audits, suitable for investors prioritizing safety and compliance.
2. Why are many retail users switching to USDT on TRON?
Due to the very low transaction fees on TRON, fast transfer speeds, and the convenience of deposits and withdrawals on major exchanges like Binance, it meets the needs for small-scale trading and money transfers.
3. How does USD1's safety compare to USDT and USDC?
USD1 is issued under strict regulatory management from the U.S. under the GENIUS Act, is transparent, and is regularly audited, thus targeting investors who value safety and legal compliance.
4. Why does DAI still hold an important position on Ethereum despite a lower market cap?
DAI is a decentralized stablecoin controlled by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), not reliant on a single issuing organization, making it suitable for investors who prioritize asset independence.
5. How does the GENIUS Act of the United States affect international stablecoins?
The GENIUS Act increases the requirements for transparency, reserve audits, and financial reporting, creating a new standard model for stablecoins that wish to serve international customers to elevate governance standards.
6. What benefits does cross-chain integration offer to stablecoin users?
Users can flexibly switch between blockchains, increasing liquidity, accessing a variety of DeFi products, and reducing reliance on a single network.
7. Do stablecoins face the risk of excessive regulation?
The trend of increasing regulation parallels the demand for transparency and investor protection. Projects that meet regulations early will stay ahead of the market, leveraging transparency advantages in the long term.
Source: https://tintucbitcoin.com/usdc-vuot-usdt-stablecoin-lap-dinh/
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