Stablecoins — cryptocurrencies pegged to the value of fiat currencies or commodities — have surpassed $300 billion in market capitalization for the first time, highlighting a significant adoption trend.
According to data from open-source aggregator DefiLlama, the milestone was reached on Oct. 3, 2025, capping a year-to-date growth of 46.8%
By reaching the $300 billion threshold, the stablecoin market is well-positioned to break the pace of 2024 amid intensifying competition and a wave of new stablecoin launches this year.
“The milestone is a reminder that the infrastructure we build today has to scale to trillions, because that’s where the market is headed,” USDT0 co-founder Lorenzo R told Cointelegraph.
A $23 billion gap to replicate last year’s growth
To match last year’s 58% growth, stablecoins would need to add another $23 billion in value by year-end. With $40 billion added in the third quarter alone, analysts say the market is on track.
The 58% increase would not be the highest pace seen historically. The stablecoin market cap ballooned by 876% in 2019, rising from around $400 million to $4.1 billion in a year.
The boom continued through the pandemic era, with the market expanding further by 568% in 2020 and 494% in 2021, before experiencing its first major contractions in 2022 and 2023.
Ethena’s USDe and Solana among the biggest winners
As Cointelegraph previously reported, stablecoin growth in 2025 was driven mainly by Tether USDt (USDT), Circle’s USDC (USDC) and Ethena Labs’ yield-bearing stablecoin USDe (USDE).
Despite USDT and USDC heavily dominating stablecoin inflows and market cap, Ethena’s USDe saw the biggest spike in market share growth, surging more than 150% from around $6 billion in January to nearly $15 billion by October, according to data from RWA.xyz.
Network-wise, Ethereum continued to dominate the stablecoin industry, with a circulating stablecoin supply of $171 billion.
Related: Race for global stablecoin rails heats up with Stripe, Fireblocks launches
However, stablecoins on Ethereum have risen by around 44% in 2025, while Solana-based stablecoins surged nearly 70% from $4.8 billion to $13.7 billion.
Arbitrum and Aptos have also seen notable growth, with stablecoin circulation supply surging by around 70% and 96%, respectively.
Anticipation of mainstream adoption
According to EarnOS founder Phil George, the $300 billion stablecoin milestone is significant, but the trend is more crucial.
“Supply has doubled in two years and will probably double again in one year from now,” George said, adding that major financial platforms like Stripe, Circle and Tether have announced building their own layer-1 (L1) blockchains and PayPal is already issuing their own stablecoin.
“I expect to see $100 trillion of transaction volume next year and would love to see supply double again to $600 billion,” he told Cointelegraph, expressing confidence about more stablecoin launches by payment giants like Visa.
Related: All currencies will be stablecoins by 2030: Tether co-founder
Aryan Sheikhalian, head of research at CMT Digital, echoed George’s perspective, saying that while the $300 billion milestone is a “marker of maturity,” even more significant thresholds are likely on the horizon.
Sheikhalian said $500 billion would mark mainstream integration, with $1 trillion likely by decade’s end as stablecoins reach corporate treasuries and consumer payments.
“Longer term, if corporations like Amazon or Walmart issue their own tokens or adopt stablecoins at checkout, that’s the moment the rails of consumer finance will have fundamentally shifted.”
Magazine: Japan tours on XRP Ledger, USDC and USDT payments via Grab: Asia Express
