A new historical maximum has been recorded on the Ethereum blockchain — $166 billion in stablecoins. According to The Block, the market leader remains Tether (USDT) with a capitalization of $87.8 billion, in second place is USD Coin (USDC) with an indicator of $48 billion.

Why is this event key?

Stablecoins have become an integral part of the crypto economy. They are no longer just a 'digital dollar', but an infrastructure that provides liquidity for trading, DeFi protocols, NFTs, and the tokenization of real assets.

The growth of supply to $166 billion indicates three things:

  1. Ethereum strengthens its position as a global settlement layer.

  2. Demand for the dollar in digital form is growing, despite strict regulatory measures.

  3. Institutional capital is increasingly entering the crypto industry through USDC and regulated tokens.

USDT vs USDC: a battle for the market

  • USDT (#Tether ) — more than half of the market, the main means of settlement for traders and international operations. Despite criticism regarding reserve transparency, its popularity is only growing.

  • USDC (#Circle ) — the choice of institutional investors and US fintech. Stricter regulation and partnerships with banks make it a 'clean' option for large players.

What does this mean for the crypto market?

  1. More liquidity in DeFi

    The growth of stablecoins opens new opportunities for yield on decentralized platforms.

  2. #Ethereum — an alternative to SWIFT

    With such volumes, the network effectively becomes a next-generation international payment system.

  3. Regulatory challenge

    The USA and EU are forced to accelerate the issuance of rules for stablecoins, otherwise the market will be controlled by private issuers. In the long term, competition with central bank digital currencies (CBDC) is possible.

Forecast

We are on the verge of a new financial standard. Stablecoins based on Ethereum are already starting to perform the functions of a global dollar in digital form.

For the market, this means:

  • Support for growth $BTC and $ETH due to a high level of liquidity.

  • Acceleration of cryptocurrency integration into international trade and fintech.

  • Competition between USDT and USDC, which will determine the future distribution of power in the market.

Do you think stablecoins will become the basis for global settlements, or will they be displaced by state #CBDC ?