Stablecoin Market Capitalisation Surpasses $320 Billion: How Much Do USDT and Others Control?

Cryptocurrency

The market capitalisation of stablecoins not regulated in the United States continues to grow amid the lack of a final regulatory framework for the American market.

Total stablecoin market capitalisation has reached another all-time high, surpassing $323 billion. Over the past 30 days, most of the growth came from $USDT issued by Tether, while many competitors experienced declining market caps.

At the same time, $USDC issued by Circle maintained leadership in transaction volume across all blockchain networks combined.

Market Share Breakdown: USDT and USDC Continue to Dominate

As of 20 May 2026, total stablecoin market capitalisation stood at $323 billion, according to DefiLlama data.

The market distribution currently looks as follows:

• $USDT — approximately 59% market share;
• $USDC — roughly 24%;
• USDS from Sky (formerly MakerDAO) — less than 3%.

The next largest stablecoins include:

• $USD1 from Donald Trump family-backed World Liberty Financial;
• $DAI from Spark;
• $USDe from Ethena.

Each of these assets accounts for slightly less than 1.5% of the total market.

They are followed by $PYUSD from PayPal with a market share slightly above 1%.

How Market Caps Changed Over the Past 30 Days

Over the last month:

• $USDT market cap increased by nearly 2%;
• $USDC declined by approximately 1.5%;
• $DAI remained largely unchanged;
• USDS rose by around 5%;
• $USD1 gained roughly 10%.

Meanwhile:

• $USDe market cap dropped by 25%;
• $PYUSD declined by approximately 15%.

Overall, total stablecoin market capitalisation increased by only around 1% during the same period.

This suggests the sector is experiencing capital rotation rather than major inflows of new money.

Why USDe Is Underperforming

$USDe from Ethena has shown one of the weakest performances among major stablecoins in 2026.

This is likely linked to the project’s structural design.

Unlike most major stablecoins backed by cash reserves or government bonds, $USDe is supported through trading positions on cryptocurrency exchanges and DeFi platforms.

Analysts say capital outflows are being driven by the underperformance of Ethena’s yield-generating trading strategies under current market conditions.

The main issue stems from the near balance between traders betting on price increases and declines, which negatively affects the profitability of Ethena’s model.

US Regulation Remains a Key Factor

These market dynamics are unfolding amid positive developments regarding US crypto regulation.

The Senate Banking Committee recently approved the CLARITY Act, legislation that has been under discussion for roughly a year.

The main debates surrounding the bill focused specifically on stablecoin structures and whether holders should be allowed to earn yield.

Against this backdrop, the growth of non-US-regulated $USDT is occurring alongside capital outflows from regulated American stablecoins.

Some market participants appear unconvinced that the CLARITY Act will be passed quickly and are therefore favouring global assets such as $USDT and USDS.

Analysts at Wintermute expressed a similarly cautious view:

“It remains unclear how the bill will pass a full House vote, and adoption may be delayed into the medium term.”

USDC Leads in Transaction Volume

Although $USDT remains the dominant stablecoin by issuance size, the picture changes when examining real-world usage.

Tether’s market capitalisation is approaching $190 billion, while $USDC stands at roughly $77 billion.

However, according to Visa’s analytics dashboard, $USDC has overtaken Tether in transaction volume since the beginning of May:

• $USDC — $377 billion;
• $USDT — $322 billion.

Nevertheless, $USDT still dominates by transaction count:

• $USDT — 96 million transactions;
• $USDC — 37 million transactions.

Which Networks Are Users Choosing?

In May, stablecoin activity across blockchain networks returned to more statistically normal levels.

Earlier this year, Solana demonstrated unusually strong activity compared with Ethereum and Tron.

However, by transfer volume in May:

• Ethereum accounted for approximately 28% of the market;
• Tron also held roughly 28%;
• Solana captured 19%;
• Base, developed by Coinbase, accounted for around 16%.

By transaction count, $BNB Chain led the market:

• $BNB Chain — 35%;
• Tron — 25%;
• Solana — 10%.

See also: "Hyperliquid Could Rise Another 55% After Massive HYPE Accumulation"

#Stablecoins #Capitalization

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