Stablecoins have become a cornerstone of the digital asset space, serving as a primary form of value storage and a key indicator of asset liquidity and blockchain adoption. This analysis examines the stablecoin landscapes across twelve leading blockchain networks, highlighting key trends, growth metrics, and competitive dynamics.
Ethereum: Maintaining Dominance with USDC Growth
Ethereum remains the dominant force in the stablecoin market, hosting a total stablecoin market capitalization of $122.5 billion, which represents approximately 50% of all stablecoins issued globally. USDT is the most prominent stablecoin on Ethereum, accounting for roughly half of its stablecoin supply.
However, 2025 has seen a shift. While USDT on Ethereum experienced significant growth throughout 2024, increasing by 83.1%, its supply on the network has decreased by 5.07% as of May 21st, 2025. This decline allowed Tron to surpass Ethereum as the largest issuer of USDT.
Ethereum's position is now significantly bolstered by USDC. It is the primary issuance chain for USDC, with a supply of 36.9 billion tokens as of May 22nd, representing 60.82% of all USDC. Since October 2024, USDC on Ethereum has grown 46.4% from $25.2 billion. This substantial growth in USDC is the main reason Ethereum has managed to retain its half-share of the stablecoin market.
Tron: The Premier USDT Hub and Distribution Network
Tron has established itself as the leading blockchain for USDT issuance, with over 99% of its stablecoin value derived from Tether's flagship stablecoin. It now commands about 31.3% of the global stablecoin market share.
The network is exceptionally active. Data from CryptoQuant shows Tron processes an average of 2.4 million USDT transactions daily, dwarfing Ethereum's 284,000. In terms of value, Tron handles approximately $20 billion in daily USDT transfers, accounting for nearly 29% of all global stablecoin transaction volume. User activity is equally impressive, with over one million unique accounts conducting USDT transactions on Tron every day.
Growth on Tron has been consistent. The supply of USDT grew from $48.8 billion in 2024 to $59.7 billion. In 2025 alone, Tether minted an additional $18 billion USDT on Tron, bringing the total supply to $77.7 billion. This preference is largely driven by Tron's low transaction fees and high speed, making it a favorite for retail users and emerging markets.
Strategic partnerships also play a role. The collaboration between Tron founder Justin Sun and the Trump family adds a layer of potential. In May, Zack Witkoff, co-founder of the Trump-associated WLFI (World Liberty Financial), announced that their USD1 stablecoin would be natively issued on the Tron chain. Sun has also expressed ambitions to drastically reduce fees, aiming for completely free transactions, though further details on this initiative are pending.
Solana: The High-Speed Contender
Solana has emerged as one of the most formidable new players in the stablecoin arena. Its stablecoin market cap skyrocketed from $1.8 billion at the beginning of 2024 to a peak of $13.1 billion in May 2025—an astounding 627% increase. This growth in both volume and velocity makes Solana an undeniable emerging force.
Despite this explosive growth, Solana's current stablecoin market cap of approximately $11.4 billion still lags significantly behind Tron and Ethereum, the latter by more than a factor of ten. Interestingly, while Solana's DEX trading volumes have surpassed Ethereum's, its stablecoin supply has not kept pace, suggesting that stablecoin utilization within its ecosystem is not yet as pervasive.
USDC is the stablecoin of choice on Solana, commanding a 73% market share. USDT holds about a 20% share. PayPal's PYUSD has a $200 million market cap on Solana, making it the second-largest chain for PYUSD after Ethereum, with a 24.36% share. Solana is increasingly becoming a preferred chain for new stablecoin issuances.
BSC: Driven by Zero Gas and USD1
As of May 2025, Binance Smart Chain (BSC) holds about 2.4% of the global stablecoin market. Its stablecoin market cap experienced step-like growth throughout 2024, rising from $4 billion to approximately $10 billion, a 150% increase.
Two major growth spurts were observed: the first from November 2024 to January 2025 (from $5B to $7B), likely driven by BSC's zero gas fee initiatives. The second occurred from late April to May 2025 (from $7B to $9B), propelled significantly by the issuance of the USD1 stablecoin on BSC. Currently, 99.26% of USD1's $2.1 billion supply is on BSC.
The dominance of previously promoted stablecoins like BUSD and FUSD has dwindled to a combined 3%. USDT now holds a 59% share on BSC, while USD1 claims 21%. According to Visa Onchain Analytics, the share of stablecoin DEX trading on BSC surged from under 10% in April to 28%, nearly matching centralized exchange activity, likely fueled by the popularity of the Binance Wallet. In May, BSC led all chains in stablecoin transaction count, accounting for 38.1% of the total. Its cumulative USDT trading volume of $358 billion is third, behind only Tron and Ethereum. BSC, alongside Solana, is a highly competitive new force.
Base: The Growth Champion Empowered by Coinbase
Base, the Ethereum L2 incubated by Coinbase, has seen meteoric growth across all metrics this cycle, and its stablecoin ecosystem is no exception. Its stablecoin market cap has surged by an incredible 2,210%, the highest growth rate among the top five chains by stablecoin value.
USDC is the overwhelmingly dominant stablecoin on Base, comprising 97.8% of its stablecoin supply. Base is also the largest chain for USDC transaction volume outside of Ethereum itself.
Hyperliquid: The New Vault for Derivatives Whales
Although a newer entrant, Hyperliquid has demonstrated remarkable potential as a decentralized derivatives exchange. In less than six months, its stablecoin market capitalization reached $3.26 billion, surpassing established chains like Arbitrum, Polygon, and Avalanche.
Its ecosystem primarily utilizes USDC for trading, which constitutes 97.8% of its stablecoins. Notably, Hyperliquid has recently expanded its supported stablecoins to include feUSD, USDT, and USDe, signaling an intent to broaden its ecosystem connectivity, though the trading volumes for these new additions remain low.
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Arbitrum: The Post-Incentive Plunge
Arbitrum, a major Ethereum L2, experienced significant volatility in its stablecoin market cap. Throughout 2024, it grew from $20.6 billion to $20.9 billion. However, the beginning of 2025 saw a major downturn, with the value plummeting to $2.73 billion by January. A single day, January 2nd, saw outflows of $2 billion.
This dramatic decline is attributed to three main factors:
- The conclusion of the Incentives Detox program on December 17th, which provided liquidity subsidies to about 50 protocols.
- Tether's announcement to migrate USDT on Arbitrum to a new cross-chain standard, "USDT0," effective January 29th.
- Intense competition from high-yield chains like Blast, which attracted liquidity from L2s with offers of 5% annualized yields and airdrop points.
Polygon: USDC Migration and the Payments Testing Ground
From 2024 to the present, Polygon's stablecoin market cap rose from $1.26 billion to approximately $2.15 billion, a nearly 70% year-over-year increase. Key drivers include the launch of Circle's native USDC on the chain and pilot programs for fiat and stablecoin settlements by giants like Visa and Mastercard on its Proof-of-Stake chain. USDT and USDC now dominate Polygon's stablecoin scene, holding 40.79% and 47% market shares, respectively.
Avalanche: Fee Reduction Fails to Ignite Exponential Growth
Avalanche's growth over the past year has been relatively modest. While its overall stablecoin market cap grew by 79%, this growth appears to have stagnated after May 2024, oscillating between $1 billion and $2 billion. The V9.0 upgrade in late 2024 reduced C-Chain base fees by 96%, significantly lowering costs for small transfers and batch settlements. However, this technical improvement did not provide sustained momentum, indicating that a broader increase in ecosystem activity is needed to truly drive stablecoin adoption.
Aptos: The Move Ecosystem's Rising Contender
Aptos saw its total stablecoin market cap break the $1 billion mark for the first time in Q1 2025. Its growth rate since 2024 through May stands at 20%. As a Move-language blockchain, Aptos is part of a new wave of competitors alongside Sui. Its stablecoin ecosystem is primarily composed of USDT (62.39%) and USDC (32%). This growth is particularly notable given that native USDC only launched on Aptos in January 2025.
Sui: The Chain with 230-Fold Growth
Sui boasts the most dramatic growth of any blockchain analyzed. From a stablecoin market cap of just $5 million in early 2024, it grew by a factor of 230. USDC is the leading stablecoin on Sui, making up about 75% of its supply. Despite this phenomenal percentage growth, the absolute size of Sui's stablecoin ecosystem remains relatively small, and the variety of stablecoins is limited. Attracting larger capital inflows is a primary challenge. Furthermore, a security incident involving Cetus on May 22nd may raise questions about its security, presenting a landscape of both immense opportunity and underlying concerns.
TON: Telegram's Support Meets Growth Challenges
TON, another new entrant in 2024, also achieved rapid initial growth. The project received a significant boost in April 2024 when Tether announced the issuance of USDT and XAUT on TON, aiming to bring Telegram's 900 million users into an on-chain dollar payment ecosystem. Wallet and trading bot integrations within Telegram allowed new users to send and receive USDT seamlessly with just a phone number. By June 2024, USDT issuance on TON reached $519 million.
However, TON's stablecoin growth has reversed in 2025, falling from $1.4 billion at the start of the year to around $900 million. This decline is likely linked to a lack of sustained momentum beyond initial clicker games, with no major new use cases or hotspots emerging within the ecosystem.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a stablecoin?
A stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable value, typically pegged to a fiat currency like the US dollar. This stability is achieved through various mechanisms, including holding reserve assets or using algorithmic formulas, making them suitable for payments, trading, and storing value in the volatile crypto market.
Why does stablecoin distribution across blockchains matter?
The distribution of stablecoins across different blockchains is a key indicator of ecosystem health and adoption. It reflects where users choose to hold value, transact, and engage with decentralized applications (dApps). A growing stablecoin market cap on a chain often signals increasing user trust, liquidity, and overall activity.
Which blockchain has the most USDT?
As of mid-2025, the Tron network has surpassed Ethereum to become the blockchain with the largest circulation of USDT. This is largely due to its high transaction throughput and low fees, which are attractive for frequent transfers and retail users.
What is driving USDC's growth on Ethereum?
USDC's significant growth on Ethereum is fueled by its perception as a regulated and transparent stablecoin. Its deep integration within Ethereum's mature DeFi and institutional finance ecosystem makes it the preferred choice for many sophisticated users, protocols, and corporate treasury operations.
How did Base achieve such high stablecoin growth?
Base's phenomenal growth is primarily driven by its tight integration with Coinbase, the largest US-based cryptocurrency exchange. This provides a seamless and trusted onramp for users and developers. Furthermore, its focus on USDC and positioning as a user-friendly L2 for building decentralized applications has attracted significant capital and activity.
What are the main challenges for newer chains like Aptos and Sui?
Despite high growth rates, newer chains face challenges in scaling their stablecoin ecosystems beyond initial hype. Key hurdles include attracting significant capital inflows (not just percentage growth), diversifying the types of stablecoins available, building robust and secure DeFi applications to utilize them, and establishing long-term user trust.
Conclusion
The competitive landscape for stablecoins across blockchain networks is evolving at a breakneck pace. While established players like Ethereum and Tron maintain significant first-mover advantages, the rapid rise of chains like Solana and BSC is steadily eroding their market share. The emergence of new stablecoins like USD1, which are being issued on multiple chains beyond Ethereum, further diversifies the field.
Newer Move-language blockchains like Aptos and Sui, though their stablecoin ecosystems are younger, demonstrate clear advantages in growth speed. The future points toward intensified competition: established chains face the dual pressure of defending their market while continuing to grow, while newer chains are entering a period of rapid, aggressive expansion. As stablecoin legislation gradually takes shape around the globe, the story of stablecoins is truly just beginning.