The crypto industry’s appetite for dollar-pegged assets has exploded this year, with stablecoins adding tens of billions to circulation in just the past three months.
Fresh figures suggest the sector is quietly driving one of the largest liquidity shifts in digital finance, even as broader market activity cools.
Quarter of Breakout Growth
Over the last 90 days, net inflows across stablecoins topped $46 billion — a sharp acceleration compared to earlier this year. That surge pushed the total market capitalization near $290 billion, cementing stablecoins as the backbone of crypto trading and settlement.
Ethereum remains the dominant settlement layer, hosting $171 billion worth of stable assets, while Tron trails with $76 billion. Together they account for the lion’s share of circulation, dwarfing newer ecosystems like Solana, Arbitrum, and BNB Chain.
New Winners Emerge
Tether’s USDT kept its commanding lead with nearly $20 billion in new issuance this quarter, holding close to 59% market dominance. Circle’s USDC staged a remarkable comeback, jumping from just half a billion dollars in inflows in Q2 to $12.3 billion in Q3.
The real surprise came from Ethena’s synthetic USDe, which pulled in $9 billion after barely registering in previous quarters. That growth has already earned it almost 5% of the stablecoin market. PayPal’s PYUSD and MakerDAO’s USDS also posted over $1 billion each in fresh inflows, while Ripple’s RLUSD showed early momentum.
Underlying Risks
Despite the inflow boom, activity metrics tell a different story. Data from RWA.xyz shows monthly active stablecoin addresses dropped more than 22% to 26 million, and total transfer volume slid 11% to $3.17 trillion compared to August.
The divergence highlights a potential imbalance: supply is rising fast, but user activity isn’t keeping pace. Analysts warn that unless real-world utility expands, ballooning issuance could outstrip actual adoption.
For now, stablecoins are strengthening their position as crypto’s de facto dollar infrastructure — powering exchanges, DeFi protocols, and cross-border transfers. But the next phase will depend on whether these tokens evolve beyond speculation and become deeply embedded in payments and finance.
