Why Tether Keeps Growing — Even With Better Stablecoin Options

USDT crossed $145B in circulating supply this month — and despite better-regulated alternatives existing, growth has accelerated, not slowed.

The fundamental driver is distribution. USDT is the default trading pair on the major Asian and Latin American exchanges, and it is the de facto dollar in several emerging markets where capital controls or banking access make USD itself difficult to hold. That is not a market USDC, FDUSD or PYUSD have meaningfully captured.

Network effects compound. USDT on Tron alone settles more daily volume than the entire DeFi sector, primarily for cross-border payments and merchant settlement in markets where the official banking system is too slow or too closed to be useful.

The regulatory question matters less than US-centric coverage suggests. Tether’s revenue from US Treasury holdings now puts it on par with mid-sized regional banks in profitability. As long as that backing remains intact and audited, the existential risk narrative is mostly noise.