Stablecoin Total Supply by Issuer

Quarter-end aggregate supply by stablecoin issuer, stacked. Total supply crossed $320B in May 2026. USDT sustained growth through the 2022-2023 bear; USDC peaked at $52B in early 2022 then declined sharply through the Silvergate / SVB crisis in early 2023 before recovering through 2024-2025. Ethena USDe launched February 2024 and crossed $10B by Q3 2025.

Quarter-end aggregate supply by stablecoin issuer ($B USD), stacked. USDT sustained growth through the 2022-2023 bear; USDC peaked Q1-Q2 2022 at $52B then declined sharply through the Silvergate / SVB crisis in early 2023; Ethena USDe launched Feb 2024 and crossed $10B by 2025-Q3; the May 2026 total ($320B) is editor-verified. Initial v1 estimates; verify each quarter against DefiLlama Stablecoins.

Stablecoin Transfer Volume vs Visa

Monthly on-chain stablecoin transfer volume (adjusted to exclude MEV, sandwich attacks, and same-entity wallet moves) compared with Visa monthly purchase volume. The crossover happened in early 2024 alongside the spot BTC ETF launch and the broader stablecoin acceleration; the gap widened to roughly 3x by Q3 2025. Stablecoin volume is treasury/DeFi/CEX-internal-heavy versus Visa's consumer-spending focus, so direct comparison is imperfect.

Monthly on-chain stablecoin transfer volume (adjusted to exclude MEV, sandwich attacks, and same-entity wallet moves) compared with Visa monthly purchase volume. The crossover happened in early 2024 alongside the spot BTC ETF launch and the broader stablecoin acceleration; the gap widened to roughly 3x by Q3 2025. Caveat: stablecoin volume is treasury / DeFi / CEX-internal-heavy versus Visa's consumer-spending focus, so direct comparison is imperfect. Initial v1; methodology varies across data providers.

Stablecoin Distribution by Chain (USDT and USDC)

Per-chain supply split for the two dominant US-dollar stablecoins. USDT is Tron-dominant (~50%) reflecting EM-dollar use cases in Argentina, Venezuela, Russia, and Asia remittance corridors. USDC is Ethereum-dominant (~53%) with strong Base growth (Coinbase distribution effect) and meaningful Solana penetration.

Tether (USDT)

$190B

Circle (USDC)

$78B

Per-chain supply split for the two dominant US-dollar stablecoins, May 2026 snapshot. USDT is Tron-dominant (~50%) reflecting EM-dollar use cases (Argentina, Venezuela, Russia, Asia remittance corridors). USDC is Ethereum-dominant (~53%) with strong Base growth (Coinbase distribution effect) and Solana penetration. Initial v1; verify against DefiLlama Stablecoins per-chain breakdown.

Stablecoin Reserve Composition

Tether vs Circle reserve-asset composition per their most recent attestations. Structurally different: Tether's reserves are a mixed portfolio (T-bills 60% plus repo, MMF, cash, BTC, gold, secured loans, equity stakes); Circle's reserves are pure US Treasury bills and repo (held in a BlackRock-managed 2a-7 money-market fund) plus cash at named US banks. Both issuers carry small excess reserves above circulating supply.

Tether (USDT)

BDO Italia · Quarterly · last 2026-03-31

$191.0B

total reserves

Supply

$183.0B

Excess

$8.2B

US Treasury bills (direct holdings)

$117.0B · 61.3%

Direct T-bill holdings per BDO Q1 2026 attestation. Tether is the 17th largest holder of US Treasuries globally.

Overnight reverse repurchase agreements

$19.3B · 10.1%

Overnight repo against US Treasuries.

Term reverse repurchase agreements

$4.7B · 2.5%

Term repo, also Treasury-collateralized. Combined Treasury-linked exposure totals approximately $141B.

Money market funds and cash

$8.0B · 4.2%

Institutional MMFs (BlackRock and similar) plus cash at banking partners (Cantor Fitzgerald the primary T-bill custodian).

Bitcoin

$7.0B · 3.7%

Tether strategic BTC reserve. Disclosure aligns with BitcoinTreasuries.NET listing.

Gold

$20.0B · 10.5%

Physical gold. Q1 2026 generated $1B+ in gold profits per Tether disclosure. Largest single non-Treasury reserve line.

Secured loans

$8.0B · 4.2%

Overcollateralized loans to affiliated entities. Historically the most-debated reserve category.

Other investments

$7.0B · 3.7%

Equity stakes (Northern Data, Bitdeer, Rumble, Adecoagro), venture investments, and other holdings.

Circle (USDC)

Deloitte & Touche LLP · Monthly · last 2026-04-30

$78.0B

total reserves

Supply

$77.0B

Excess

$1.0B

US Treasury bills (Circle Reserve Fund managed by BlackRock)

$62.0B · 79.5%

Held in a SEC-registered 2a-7 government money market fund (USDXX) custodied at BNY Mellon. Roughly 80%+ of total reserves.

Overnight US Treasury repurchase agreements

$9.0B · 11.5%

Held within the Circle Reserve Fund.

Cash at regulated US banks

$7.0B · 9.0%

GSIB and partner US banks (BNY Mellon, Citizens Trust, Cross River Bank, Customers Bank, New York Community Bank).

Reserve composition for the two largest fiat-backed stablecoins, latest published attestations. Tether's reserves are a mixed portfolio (T-bills 60% plus repo, MMF, cash, BTC, gold, and secured loans); Circle's reserves are pure US Treasury bills and repo (held in a regulated 2a-7 money-market fund managed by BlackRock) plus cash at named US banks. Both issuers carry small excess reserves. Initial v1; verify against the most recent BDO / Deloitte attestations before publication.

Real-World Stablecoin Payment Integrations

Major real-world stablecoin payment integrations: Visa and Mastercard cross-border merchant settlement; PayPal, Cash App, Robinhood consumer wallets; Stripe and Worldpay B2B payouts; Western Union and MoneyGram remittance corridors. The Cantor Fitzgerald entry surfaces Tether's primary US T-bill custodian connection, politically salient after Howard Lutnick's appointment as Commerce Secretary.

Partner	Stablecoin	Category	Launch	Status	Note
Visa	USDC, EURC	Card network	2021-03 pilot, 2025-12 US launch	Operational	USDC settlement first piloted March 2021. Expanded to Solana for cross-border in 2024. December 2025 brought USDC settlement to US issuers (Cross River Bank, Lead Bank) over Solana, following a $3.5B pilot. Settlement volume hit a $7B run rate by April 2026.
Mastercard	USDC, EURC, USDG, PYUSD, FIUSD, USDP	Card network	2023 pilot, 2025 expanded	Operational	Multi-Token Network (MTN) started as a Hong Kong pilot in 2023 then scaled across US, Europe, Asia. EEMEA USDC and EURC acquirer settlement launched August 2025 with Circle.
PayPal / Venmo	PYUSD	Fintech	2023-08, 70-market expansion 2026-03	Operational	Paxos-issued PYUSD. Available in PayPal and Venmo wallets plus on-chain Ethereum, Solana, Stellar, Arbitrum. Expanded to 70 PayPal markets in March 2026, driving a 5x year-over-year supply surge to $4.3B.
Stripe	USDC	Payment processor	2024-10 Bridge acquisition ($1.1B), closed 2025-02	Operational	Bridge acquisition announced October 20 2024, closed February 4 2025 (Stripe's largest acquisition since founding). Unlocked stablecoin payouts to 100+ countries integrated into Stripe Connect.
Shopify	USDC on Solana	Merchant rail	2023-08	Operational	Solana Pay plugin enables fee-free USDC checkout for millions of Shopify merchants. Average transaction cost ~$0.00025 vs 1.5-3.5% on cards.
Worldpay (with BVNK)	USDC, others	Payment processor	2025 H2 pilot	Operational	Worldpay+BVNK stablecoin payouts across 180+ markets in H2 2025. First digital asset payout option alongside Worldpay's 135 fiat currencies.
Robinhood (USDG)	USDG (Paxos consortium)	Fintech	2024-11 Global Dollar Network launch	Operational	USDG launched November 1 2024 by Paxos. Consortium includes Anchorage Digital, Bullish, Galaxy Digital, Kraken, Nuvei, Paxos, Robinhood, Worldpay. Singapore-issued, MAS and MiCA-compliant. Primary banking partner: DBS.
Cash App (Block)	USDC on Solana	Fintech	Announced 2025-11, launch early 2026	Operational	Block announced November 2025; rolling out early 2026. ~57M monthly Cash App users gain on-chain USDC send and receive plus merchant Bitcoin payments via USD-to-BTC conversion.
X Money (X / xAI)	TBD (Visa partnership confirmed)	Social	Announced 2025-01, public beta 2026-Q2	Planned	Visa partnership confirmed January 2025 (Visa Direct rails, debit card). External beta opening March-April 2026 with up to 6% APY via FDIC-insured partners (Cross River). Stablecoin component not yet confirmed.
Western Union	USDPT (own coin, Solana)	Remittance	2026-05 launch	Operational	Launched its own USD Payment Token (USDPT) on Solana in May 2026, issued by Anchorage Digital Bank, backed 1:1 by cash and US Treasuries. Initial rollout to Philippines and Bolivia, intended as a SWIFT alternative for agent settlement.
MoneyGram	USDC on Stellar	Remittance	2022-06 launch, 2024 Colombia app	Operational	Pioneer integration. Stellar rails for low-cost crypto-to-cash USDC across MoneyGram retail network. Stablecoin app launched in Colombia 2024.
Cantor Fitzgerald	USDT (custody)	Institutional	Multi-year, expanded 2024-2025	Operational	Custodies approximately 99% of Tether's US Treasury holdings (over $115B) and earns ~$50M+ in annual fees. Cantor purchased a 5% stake in Tether via $600M convertible bond in April 2024. Howard Lutnick confirmed as US Commerce Secretary Feb 2025; sons Brandon and Kyle now lead Cantor.

Major real-world stablecoin payment integrations. Visa and Mastercard run cross-border merchant settlement rails using USDC and EURC. PayPal, Cash App, and Robinhood expose stablecoins to consumer wallets. Stripe (post-Bridge acquisition) and Worldpay handle programmable B2B payouts. Western Union and MoneyGram pilot stablecoin remittance corridors. The Cantor Fitzgerald row surfaces Tether's primary US T-bill custodian connection, which became politically salient after Howard Lutnick's appointment as Commerce Secretary. Initial v1; list likely incomplete.

Global CBDC Tracker

Central bank digital currency status by country. China e-CNY leads by transaction volume and mandatory-acceptance footprint. The defining 2025 policy event is Trump EO 14178 (January 23, 2025) explicitly prohibiting a US retail CBDC, paired with the GENIUS Act framework for private US stablecoins, an explicit choice to let USDC, USDT, and PYUSD carry the dollar-on-rails role. EU and UK retail CBDC decisions are pending.

Live

Pilot

Research

Country	Project	Type	Status	Launch	Note
🇨🇳China	e-CNY	Retail + Wholesale	Live	2020 pilot, 2026 expanded	Most-advanced major CBDC. Through Nov 2025: 3.4B+ transactions, ~16.7T RMB cumulative volume (~$2.3T), 230M personal wallets, 18.8M institutional wallets. PBOC upgraded framework Jan 1 2026 to treat e-CNY as digital deposit money (was digital cash). Cross-border via mBridge with HK, Thailand, UAE, Saudi Arabia.
🇧🇸Bahamas	Sand Dollar	Retail	Live	2020-10	First fully-launched retail CBDC. Adoption remains under 1% of payments per Atlantic Council. Central bank focused on domestic expansion despite technical challenges.
🇳🇬Nigeria	eNaira	Retail	Live	2021-10	Live but uptake disappointing. Central bank pushed cash-shortage policy to drive use.
🇯🇲Jamaica	JAM-DEX	Retail	Live	2022-07	Retail CBDC. Modest uptake.
🇮🇳India	Digital Rupee (e-INR)	Retail + Wholesale	Pilot	2022-11	5M+ users in retail pilot. Wholesale pilot for interbank settlement. Roadmap to full launch pending RBI decision.
🇧🇷Brazil	Drex	Retail + Wholesale	Pilot	2023-07 pilot	Programmable currency built on tokenized-deposit architecture. Atlantic Council characterizes Drex as a tokenized-credit pilot. Live decision targeted late 2026.
🇯🇵Japan	Digital Yen	Retail	Research	TBD	BOJ proof-of-concept complete. No decision on launch yet.
🇬🇧United Kingdom	Digital Pound	Retail	Research	TBD	BoE / HMT consultation closed 2024. Design phase. No firm launch date.
🇦🇺Australia	eAUD	Wholesale	Research	TBD	RBA wholesale CBDC research project. Retail not pursued.
🇰🇳Eastern Caribbean	DCash	Retail	Paused	2021-03	Paused after 2022 multi-month outage. ECCB still evaluating re-launch with revised architecture.
🇺🇸United States	(Retail CBDC banned)	Retail	Banned	TBD	Trump EO 14178 (January 23 2025) prohibits any agency from establishing, issuing, or promoting a retail CBDC and terminates all ongoing initiatives. NY Fed continues wholesale cross-border research via Project Agora. FedNow (live since 2023) is the US alternative for fast payments. Senator Lee introduced legislation Feb 2025 to make the ban permanent.
🇷🇺Russia	Digital Ruble	Retail + Wholesale	Research	2023-08 pilot, 2026-09 mandatory	Bank of Russia mandates digital ruble acceptance from Sept 1 2026 for retailers above 120M RUB revenue and universal-license banks. Subsequent tranches roll out Sept 2027 and Sept 2028.
🇰🇷South Korea	Project Hangang (Digital Won)	Retail + Wholesale	Research	2025-04 Phase 1, 2026-03 Phase 2	Phase 1 ran April-June 2025 with seven banks and 100,000 participants converting bank deposits into deposit tokens. Phase 2 launched March 2026 adding Kyongnam and iM Bank (nine banks total) and introduces live government subsidy disbursement as a use case.
🇪🇺European Union	Digital Euro	Retail	Research	TBD	ECB in 'preparation phase' since November 2023. Legislative framework under European Parliament review. ECB cites a 'global euro moment' as the strategic case. Decision targeted 2026-2027.

Central bank digital currency status by country. China e-CNY is the most-advanced major CBDC by transaction volume and mandatory-acceptance footprint. The defining 2025 policy event is Trump EO 14178 (January 23, 2025) explicitly prohibiting a US retail CBDC, paired with the simultaneous GENIUS Act framework for private US stablecoins, an explicit choice to let private issuers (USDC, USDT, PYUSD) carry the dollar-on-rails role. EU and UK retail CBDC decisions are pending. Initial v1; sourced from Atlantic Council CBDC Tracker and central bank disclosures.

Stablecoin Total Supply by Issuer

Stablecoin Market Share

Stablecoin Transfer Volume vs Visa

Stablecoin Distribution by Chain (USDT and USDC)

Tether (USDT)

Circle (USDC)

Stablecoin Reserve Composition

Tether (USDT)

Circle (USDC)

Real-World Stablecoin Payment Integrations

Global CBDC Tracker

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