Key Points
- Tether, the issuer of USDT, has announced reaching 500 million verified users globally.
- The stablecoin issuer’s market capitalization is $182 billion, with each user holding an average of $364.
Tether, the entity behind the world’s largest stablecoin, USDT, recently revealed it has amassed 500 million verified users worldwide.
The company, led by Paolo Ardoino, publicized this achievement on social media, encouraging celebrations among its 546,000 followers.
Tether’s Global Impact
Originally established as Realcoin in 2014 by Brock Pierce, Reeve Collins, and Craig Sellars, Tether has since become the most frequently used digital dollar in global commerce.
The company has also announced plans to produce a documentary filmed in Kenya, demonstrating how USDT has revolutionized cross-border transactions and made a significant impact in markets that are typically underserved.
As of the end of Q2 2025, Tether held over $127 billion in US securities and recently introduced the Plasma (XPL) blockchain, aimed at financializing its treasury holdings and expanding US adoption in the burgeoning asset tokenization sectors.
Data from DeFiLlama indicates that Plasma drew in over $6 billion in total value locked (TVL) within a week of its debut, reflecting a positive market response.
Stablecoin Demographic Trends
Circle, a competitor stablecoin issuer and the company behind USDC, reported 87 million unique wallet addresses globally as of Q1 2025, according to Coinlaw data.
Tether’s 500 million verified user count suggests it has an 82% larger active user base compared to USDC.
Despite Tether’s broader adoption, the gap in market capitalization between the two is not as wide. Tether’s market value of $182 billion surpasses USDC’s $76.7 billion by only 58%, indicating that Tether users hold smaller average balances.
Further analysis shows that Tether’s $182 billion capitalization translates to approximately $364 per user, whereas USDC’s $76.7 billion divided among its 90 million users averages about $852 per user.
This difference highlights that USDC is primarily used by institutional users, while Tether is more popular among retail users, particularly in areas with limited access to US dollars.
According to CoinGecko, the total global stablecoin market capitalization is currently close to $316 billion, with Tether and Circle jointly accounting for over 82% of this figure.
Citibank analysts predict that this figure could exceed $1 trillion by 2030, driven by the growth of tokenized Treasury markets and the adoption of real-world assets (RWA).
