Ethereum Surpasses TRON in Tether Supply

Ethereum has regained its dominance in the supply of USDT stablecoins after TRON took the lead in August 2022, according to DeFi Llama.

The blockchain of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has issued tokens worth $60.3 billion, while its competitor’s network holds nearly $58 billion.

Over the past month, the former figure increased by 28.3%, whereas the latter decreased by 2.7%.

For comparison, USDT issuance in BNB Chain, Arbitrum, and Avalanche stands at ~$4.9 billion, $3.1 billion, and $1.3 billion respectively.

Ethereum accounts for 45.3% of Tether’s supply, while TRON holds 43.6%.

USDT is the world’s largest stablecoin with a market capitalization of $132.7 billion. USDC ranks second with $38.7 billion.

The Block explained that Ethereum’s appeal for USDT issuance is due to its dominance in DeFi and institutional adoption. TRON is favored for its low fees and speed, especially in regions with high remittance volumes.

As of the end of the third quarter of 2024, USDT was used by 330 million cryptocurrency wallets and on-chain accounts, according to the issuer’s data.

Tether attributed the increase in its audience to second-layer solutions and the development of the TON ecosystem.

The most significant relative growth in supply dynamics over the past year was recorded in Optimism, Arbitrum, and Polygon.

In July, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino acknowledged that the company had considered creating its own blockchain but later abandoned the idea due to market saturation.

Later, the top manager reported that various L2 teams were working on supporting USDT for gas payments.