Stablecoins have become a cornerstone of the digital asset ecosystem, serving as a bridge between traditional finance and blockchain innovation. As of 2025, the total stablecoin market cap has reached $250 billion — a testament to their growing adoption across decentralized applications (dApps), payments, and cross-border transactions. Behind this rapid expansion lies an intense competition among public blockchains vying for dominance in stablecoin issuance and usage.
This article analyzes the stablecoin ecosystems of 12 leading public chains, revealing key trends, performance metrics, and strategic shifts shaping the future of on-chain value transfer. From Ethereum’s resilience to SUI’s explosive growth, we explore how each chain is positioning itself in this high-stakes arena.
Ethereum: USDC Momentum Shields Market Leadership
Ethereum remains the dominant force in the stablecoin landscape, hosting approximately 50% of all stablecoin value with a total market cap of $122.5 billion. While USDT still leads in terms of issuance share — accounting for about 50% of stablecoins on Ethereum — its growth has slowed significantly in 2025.
According to PANews data, USDT issuance on Ethereum grew by 83.1% throughout 2024 but declined by 5.07% year-to-date in 2025 (as of May 21). This downturn allowed Tron to surpass Ethereum as the largest USDT-issuing chain.
However, Ethereum’s position has been preserved largely due to strong USDC growth. As of May 22, USDC issuance on Ethereum reached 36.9 billion tokens, representing 60.82% of total USDC supply. That’s a remarkable 46.4% increase from just 25.2 billion in October 2024. With Coinbase’s Base layer-2 driving much of this demand, USDC has become a critical pillar supporting Ethereum’s continued relevance.
👉 Discover how leading platforms are fueling stablecoin adoption across major blockchains.
Tron: The World’s Busiest USDT Hub
Tron now stands as the largest issuance chain for USDT, with over 99% of its stablecoin ecosystem dominated by Tether. The network holds roughly 31.3% of the global stablecoin market share, making it second only to Ethereum in total value.
What sets Tron apart is not just issuance volume, but transactional activity:
- Daily USDT transaction volume: ~2.4 million (vs. 284,000 on Ethereum)
- Daily transfer value: Over $20 billion in USDT
- Active addresses: More than 1 million daily unique wallets using USDT
These figures underscore Tron’s role as the world’s most active “dollar distribution hub” — especially popular among retail users and emerging markets due to its low fees and fast finality.
In 2025 alone, Tether issued an additional $18 billion in USDT on Tron**, pushing total supply to **$77.7 billion — up from $59.7 billion at the end of 2024.
Strategic developments may further boost Tron’s appeal. The upcoming launch of USD1, a new dollar-backed stablecoin by World Liberty Financial (WLFI), will be natively issued on Tron. Backed by figures linked to former U.S. President Donald Trump, this could open new avenues for political and institutional adoption.
Solana: High-Speed Engine Driving Stablecoin Surge
Solana has emerged as one of the most dynamic players in the stablecoin space. From just $1.8 billion in stablecoin value at the start of 2024**, it surged to a peak of **$13.1 billion by May 2025 — a staggering 627% increase.
Despite this growth, Solana's total stablecoin market cap (~$11.4 billion) still lags far behind Ethereum and Tron. However, its DEX trading volume has already exceeded Ethereum’s, indicating strong user engagement despite relatively lower stablecoin penetration.
The ecosystem is heavily dominated by USDC (73% share), followed by USDT (~20%) and PayPal’s PYUSD (~2%), which ranks second only to Ethereum in PYUSD deployment.
Solana's high throughput and low latency make it ideal for DeFi and payments — positioning it as a preferred launchpad for new stablecoins and real-world asset (RWA) integrations.
BSC: Dual Engine Growth via Zero Gas & USD1
Binance Smart Chain (BSC) captured 2.4% of the global stablecoin market by May 2025, with stablecoin value rising from $4 billion in 2024 to **$10 billion — a 150% increase**.
Two key drivers fueled this growth:
- Zero-Gas Campaign: A temporary promotion that boosted user activity and on-chain interactions.
- Launch of USD1: A newly launched dollar-pegged stablecoin that is now 99.26% issued on BSC, with total supply reaching $2.1 billion.
Today, USDT accounts for 59% of BSC’s stablecoins, while USD1 makes up 21%. Legacy tokens like BUSD and FUSD have dwindled to just 3% combined.
Visa Onchain Analytics shows that BSC’s DEX share of stablecoin trading jumped from under 10% in April to 28% in May, rivaling centralized exchanges. Additionally, BSC led all chains in transaction count (38.1%) and ranked third in cumulative USDT transaction volume.
Base: Coinbase-Powered Growth Champion
Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum L2, recorded the highest growth rate among top-five stablecoin chains — expanding from near-zero to $20 billion in stablecoin value, a mind-blowing 2,210% increase.
This meteoric rise is almost entirely driven by USDC, which commands 97.8% market share on Base. It's now the second-largest chain for USDC after Ethereum in terms of cumulative transaction volume.
Coinbase’s deep integration — including wallet incentives, direct fiat onboarding, and native app support — has made Base a go-to destination for mainstream users entering crypto.
Hyperliquid: Whales’ New Playground
Launched less than a year ago, Hyperliquid has rapidly amassed $3.26 billion in stablecoin value, outpacing established chains like Arbitrum and Polygon.
As a decentralized derivatives exchange, Hyperliquid primarily uses USDC (97.8%) for trading pairs. But recent additions like feUSD, USDT, and USDe signal efforts to broaden its ecosystem beyond speculative trading.
Its appeal lies in low-latency execution and deep liquidity — attracting institutional-grade traders and high-net-worth individuals seeking efficient risk exposure.
Arbitrum: Post-Incentive Crash Exposes Fragility
Arbitrum once held $20.9 billion in stablecoins by end-2024 but suffered a dramatic collapse in early 2025 — plunging to just **$2.73 billion in January**, with a single-day outflow of $2 billion.
Three main factors contributed:
- End of Incentives Detox program (Dec 17)
- Migration of USDT to new "USDT0" standard
- Rising competition from high-yield chains like Blast offering 5% APY + points
While recovery is underway, the episode highlights the fragility of incentive-driven growth models.
Polygon: USDC Migration & Payment Pilots
Polygon’s stablecoin value rose from $1.26B to $2.15B (up ~70%), driven by Circle’s native USDC deployment and partnerships with Visa and Mastercard for fiat-stablecoin settlement pilots.
USDC now holds 47% share, slightly ahead of USDT at 40.79% — reflecting its growing role as an enterprise-focused blockchain.
Avalanche: Lower Fees, Limited Impact
Despite reducing C-Chain base fees by 96% via its 9000 upgrade, Avalanche saw only modest growth — fluctuating between $1B–$2B in stablecoin value with no breakout momentum.
Long-term success may depend on broader ecosystem activation rather than technical optimizations alone.
Aptos & Sui: Move-Based Chains on the Rise
Aptos
Aptos crossed $1B in stablecoin value in Q1 2025, growing 20% since 2024. USDT dominates (62.39%), followed by USDC (32%). Native USDC launched in January 2025 accelerated adoption.
Sui
Sui delivered the most explosive growth — up 230x from $5M to over $1.15B since early 2024. USDC leads with 75% share, but security concerns arose after the May 22 Cetus hack.
Both chains benefit from the Move programming language’s safety and scalability advantages — attracting developers building next-gen DeFi protocols.
👉 See how emerging blockchains are redefining speed, security, and scalability in DeFi.
TON: Social-Driven Growth Fizzles Out
Backed by Telegram’s 900 million users, TON launched USDT in April 2024 and quickly hit $519M in issuance by June. By early 2025, it peaked at $1.4B but has since dropped to ~$900M.
Initial excitement around Telegram mini-games and bot payments faded without sustained innovation or compelling use cases beyond peer-to-peer transfers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Tron surpassing Ethereum in USDT issuance?
Tron offers near-zero transaction fees and faster settlement times compared to Ethereum, making it more attractive for frequent USDT transfers — especially among retail users and remittance corridors.
Which blockchain has the fastest-growing stablecoin ecosystem?
Sui leads with a 230x increase in stablecoin market cap since early 2024 — the highest growth rate among all major chains analyzed.
What role does USDC play across different blockchains?
USDC serves as a trusted, regulated stablecoin deployed natively across multiple chains including Ethereum, Base, Solana, and Sui. Its presence often signals institutional confidence and ecosystem maturity.
How do new stablecoins like USD1 impact chain competition?
New entrants like USD1 create localized demand surges on specific chains (e.g., BSC), altering market dynamics and incentivizing infrastructure development tailored to those assets.
Can low fees alone drive stablecoin adoption?
Not necessarily. While lower fees help (e.g., Avalanche), sustainable growth requires active ecosystems, strong developer support, and real-world utility — as seen on Base or Solana.
What risks do emerging chains face despite rapid growth?
Security vulnerabilities (e.g., Sui’s Cetus hack), regulatory scrutiny, and reliance on speculative capital pose significant risks to newer chains trying to scale quickly.
Final Outlook: A Shifting Landscape
The battle for stablecoin supremacy is far from over. While Ethereum and Tron maintain strong positions through network effects and transaction volume respectively, challengers like Solana, Base, BSC, and Sui are rapidly closing the gap through innovation and strategic partnerships.
New stablecoins like USD1 are no longer exclusive to Ethereum, spreading issuance across multiple chains and fragmenting market leadership.
For legacy chains, the challenge is twofold: defend existing turf while accelerating innovation. For newcomers, it's about converting momentum into lasting utility.
With global stablecoin regulations advancing in the EU (MiCA), UK, and U.S., the next phase will likely see increased institutional participation — making interoperability, compliance, and scalability even more critical.