Tether Q4 2025 Report: USDT Market Cap Nears $190 Billion, Multiple Metrics Reach All-Time Highs

Original Title: USDT Q4 2025 Market Report

Original Source: Philip Gradwell, Vice President of Economics at Tether

Original Translation: Saoirse, Foresight News

USDT reached several new highs in the fourth quarter of 2025, as follows:

· Market capitalization reached $1.873 trillion;

· Achieved over 30 million user growth for the eighth consecutive quarter;

· The number of on-chain wallets holding USDT saw the largest quarterly increase;

· Monthly active on-chain users reached a historical high;

· Both the number and value of on-chain transfers hit all-time highs.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency settlement cascade event on October 10, 2025, has slowed the growth rate of the stablecoin ecosystem. Between October 10, 2025, and February 1, 2026, the total cryptocurrency market capitalization plunged by over a third, while during this period, USDT's market cap grew by 3.5%; in comparison, the market caps of the second and third largest stablecoins fell by 2.6% and 57%, respectively.

The continued growth of USDT relies not only on the cryptocurrency market but also on various applications outside the market. Data clearly shows that users tend to view USDT as a stablecoin that can both store wealth and facilitate transactions.

These conclusions are mainly based on Tether's analysis of blockchain data (also known as on-chain data). The on-chain data of 75 stablecoins across 15 blockchains are sourced from two institutions, Chainalysis and Artemis.

Market Capitalization

In the fourth quarter of 2025, USDT's market cap grew by $12.4 billion, reaching $1.873 trillion. The month-over-month growth rate in October was 4.9%, but its growth rate slowed after the cryptocurrency settlement event on October 10.

Reserves

In the fourth quarter of 2025, Tether's total reserves increased by $11.7 billion, reaching $1.929 trillion, with a net asset (the part where assets exceed liabilities) of $6.3 billion. The total reserves include 96,184 bitcoins (an addition of 9,850 bitcoins in the fourth quarter) and 127.5 metric tons of gold (an addition of 21.9 metric tons in the fourth quarter).

In the fourth quarter, Tether's total holding of US Treasury bonds increased by $6.5 billion, reaching $141.6 billion. If Tether is considered a "country," its US Treasury bond holdings would rank 18th globally, surpassing Saudi Arabia and Germany.

Throughout the full year 2025, Tether acquired a total of $28.2 billion in US Treasury bonds. In the past 12 months, compared to other countries' holdings, Tether has become the seventh-largest buyer of US Treasury bonds, with purchases exceeding those of Taiwan and South Korea.

Total User Count

In the fourth quarter of 2025, the estimated total user count of USDT increased by 35.2 million, reaching 534.5 million. This marks the eighth consecutive quarter of achieving over 30 million user growth for this stablecoin. The user count here includes two parts: on-chain wallet users (users who have received USDT and held it for at least 24 hours) and estimated users who have received USDT on centralized service platforms (such as cryptocurrency exchanges).

On-Chain Holders

In the fourth quarter of 2025, the number of on-chain wallet users holding USDT increased by 14.7 million, reaching a total of 139.1 million, setting a record for single-quarter growth. Wallets holding USDT account for 70.7% of all wallets holding stablecoins. In addition to on-chain wallet users, it is estimated that over 100 million users hold USDT on centralized service platforms such as exchanges.

The structure of USDT on-chain holders remains relatively stable, with the following distribution:

- "Fully Reserved" holders (wallet users who retain all USDT received) account for 30.8%;

- "Saver" holders (wallet users with an average retention rate of less than 100% but higher than 2/3 after receiving USDT) account for 6.7%;

- "Transactor" holders (wallet users with an average retention rate of less than 2/3 after receiving USDT) account for 62.6%.

Compared to all other stablecoins, USDT has a higher proportion of "Saver" and "Fully Reserved" holders (USDT at 37.5%, other stablecoins collectively at 30%). Among all stablecoin saver wallets, 75.1% choose to hold USDT, indicating that USDT remains the preferred wealth storage stablecoin for users.

On-chain Active Users

By the fourth quarter of 2025, the monthly active on-chain users of USDT (wallet users who have received USDT at least once during a 30-day rolling period) averaged 24.8 million, reaching a record high. This indicates a continuous increase in USDT user activity. This number accounts for 68.4% of the total monthly active stablecoin users.

Holdings Distribution Among Different User Types

As of the end of the fourth quarter of 2025, 36% of USDT holdings were concentrated on centralized exchanges (CEX), up 2.8 percentage points from the end of the third quarter. This change was partly due to a decrease in USDT holdings on decentralized exchanges (DEX) and decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms after the October 10 cryptocurrency rout: in the fourth quarter, USDT holdings on DEX and DeFi platforms decreased by $3 billion (a 2-percentage-point decrease), to $7.1 billion, accounting for 3.8% of total USDT holdings.

The second-highest holding percentage comes from saving-type users, accounting for 33%, with "pure saving" users holding 17.4% and other "saving" users holding 15.6%. In the fourth quarter, saving-type users' USDT holdings increased by $2.9 billion, reaching a total of $62.1 billion by the end of the quarter. As mentioned earlier, USDT not only attracted the most saving-type users but also held the highest value in terms of savings: USDT accounts for 59.9% of the savings value of all stablecoins; if wallets holding more than $10 million are excluded (these wallets are mostly exchanges' cold wallets), USDT's share rises to 77.3%.

"Transfer-type" users rank third in terms of holdings, accounting for 26.5% at the end of the fourth quarter. During the third to fourth quarter period, this percentage remained relatively stable, and "transfer-type" users' holdings increased by $2.2 billion, reflecting the continued improvement in USDT's liquidity in transactional applications.

It is important to note that the total holdings size calculated here is slightly higher than USDT's market capitalization because the total holdings include USDT that has not yet been issued from the Tether treasury, while the market capitalization only considers USDT in a net circulation state.

On-chain Transfer Value in USD

In the fourth quarter of 2025, the quarterly on-chain transfer value of USDT increased by $248.6 billion, reaching $4.4 trillion, hitting a record high. Out of this $4.4 trillion total quarterly transfer amount, $2.8 trillion (63.6% share) was transfers containing only USDT as the asset, and $1.6 trillion (36.4% share) was transfers containing multiple assets (these transfers usually occur in DeFi exchange scenarios).

In single-asset transfers involving stablecoins, USDT accounts for 65.9% of the value transferred; in multi-asset transfers involving stablecoins, USDT accounts for 34.6% of the value. This data indicates that USDT remains the preferred stablecoin for value transfer by users, while other stablecoins are more often used in value exchange scenarios, with USDT being the common exchange pair.

On-Chain Transfer Volume

In the fourth quarter of 2025, the quarterly on-chain transfer volume of USDT increased by 313 million transactions to reach 2.2 billion transactions, setting a new record high. Within these 2.2 billion quarterly transfers:

· Transfers with amounts below $1,000 occurred 1.94 billion times, accounting for 88.2%;

· Transfers with amounts ranging from $1,000 to $100,000 occurred 256 million times, accounting for 11.6%;

· Transfers with amounts exceeding $100,000 occurred 4.6 million times, accounting for 0.2%.

Circulation Velocity

As of the end of the fourth quarter of 2025, calculated by a 7-day moving average, USDT's circulation velocity (the daily transaction amount as a percentage of total holdings) stood at 18.2%. This value is lower than the peak of 51.8% on November 5th (driven by a surge in DeFi activity) and is close to levels seen before the second quarter of 2025 (when Bitcoin prices were similar to this quarter).

In the fourth quarter, the average circulation velocity of USDT was 28%, significantly lower than the circulation velocity of the second-largest stablecoin at 151%. The relatively lower circulation velocity of USDT indicates stronger user retention, higher stability, and as mentioned later in this text, a more diverse range of use cases.

The circulation velocity of USDT naturally varies depending on the use case: users holding USDT for savings purposes have a lower circulation velocity (as users typically choose to hold rather than transfer). The circulation velocity of "full savings-type" users is naturally 0, while in 2025, the daily average circulation velocity of "savings-type" users is 4%.

The on-chain circulation velocity of centralized exchanges is also lower, with a daily average circulation velocity of 11% in 2025. This is because users hold USDT on centralized exchanges, which can be used for savings or trading—however, as mentioned in the next section, trading volumes on exchanges are recorded on a centralized order book, not on the blockchain, making the scale of USDT transferred from centralized exchanges via the blockchain relatively lower compared to the holdings on the exchanges.

High-circulation scenarios for USDT include:

· "Transfer-type" Wallets: In 2025, the average daily circulation rate was 51%. The purposes of transferring USDT in these wallets are diverse, including payments, remittances, transferring funds between different exchanges, etc.;

· DEX and DeFi Platforms: In 2025, the average daily circulation rate was 111%. Circulation speed in such scenarios is usually very high because DEX transactions are recorded on the blockchain, and users may engage in multiple transactions in a single day, ultimately resulting in a circulation rate exceeding 100%.

Of the USDT market cap, 67% is distributed in low-circulation speed scenarios, and 33% is distributed in high-circulation speed scenarios. This distribution both ensures stability through low-circulation speed scenarios and ensures liquidity through high-circulation speed scenarios.

Spot Market

In the fourth quarter of 2025, the USDT spot trading volume on centralized exchanges was $32 trillion, with 96.5% quoted against USDT and the remainder quoted against other assets. Due to the cryptocurrency liquidation wave on October 10th, the trading volume decreased by 5.9% compared to the third quarter. However, since the trading volume of all other assets decreased by 11.5% compared to the third quarter, USDT's share of the total spot market trading volume increased by 1.5 percentage points to reach 61.5%.

In the fourth quarter, there were 14.1 billion USDT spot trading transactions, accounting for 80% of all spot trading transactions in that quarter.

Conclusion

In the fourth quarter of 2025, USDT set multiple historical highs, although growth slowed after the cryptocurrency liquidation wave on October 10th. However, the data shows that the cryptocurrency market is not the sole driver of USDT's growth.

Compared to other stablecoins, user preference for saving USDT is significantly higher (among all stablecoin savings wallets, USDT accounts for 75%; in wallets with savings value below $10 million, USDT accounts for 77%), providing a source of demand for USDT's stability and low circulation speed.

In high-circulation transactional medium application scenarios, USDT also holds a leading position: in single-asset transfer value involving stablecoins, USDT accounts for 65.9%; whereas in multi-asset transfer value involving stablecoins, USDT accounts for 34.6%. This phenomenon indicates that USDT is still the preferred stablecoin for value transfer by users, while other stablecoins are more commonly used for value exchange (often exchanging for USDT). These high-circulation scenarios provide USDT with ample liquidity, ensuring its wide availability and acceptance.

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