The total supply of stablecoins pegged to the U.S. dollar appears to be trending toward previous all-time highs as new token issuances intensify competition.
By the end of last week, the total supply of USD-pegged stablecoins reached $165 billion, the highest level for the token in nearly two years, according to The Block Data Dashboard. The expansion in stablecoin supply has been boosted by the rise in the market capitalization of Ethena’s “synthetic dollar”, or USDe, stablecoin, which has hovered around $2.4 billion in recent days.
When the overall stablecoin market hit $165 billion last Thursday, it was the highest supply since the end of June 2022, according to The Block Data Dashboard. The highest ever supply exceeded $180 billion.
Increased supply and options
The USD-pegged stablecoin market, long dominated by Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC, is growing in terms of total supply and number of choices. According to DeFiLlama data, USDT is the clear leader with around 70% market share.
In addition to Ethena’s new stablecoin launched about two months ago, Silicon Valley-based PayPal also launched its own stablecoin via Paxos in August 2023. And earlier this month, Ripple announced plans to launch a USD-pegged stablecoin later this year.
At the time of the announcement, Ripple suggested that the overall stablecoin market would explode in the next few years, reaching $2.8 trillion by 2028.
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About the author
RT Watson is a senior reporter at The Block, covering a variety of topics including US-based companies, blockchain games, NFTs, and more. He previously covered entertainment for The Wall Street Journal and has covered companies including Disney, Netflix, and Warner Bros. and the creator economy, with a primary focus on technological innovation across media. Previously, she covered corporate, economic and political news in Brazil at Bloomberg. She interviewed a wide range of figures for RT, including CEOs, media moguls, top influencers, politicians, blue-collar workers, drug traffickers, and convicted criminals. She holds a Master’s degree in Digital Sociology.