The stablecoin market has exploded into a force that even national economies can’t ignore. In aggregate, dollar-pegged tokens in circulation now exceed $200 billion, a sum roughly on par with the annual GDP of Greece.
In fact, if the stablecoin realm were a country, it would rank around 55th in the world by economic size. This dramatic growth — up 73% since mid-2023 alone — has entrenched stablecoins as essential liquidity in crypto markets.
Today’s two Goliaths, Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC, command the lion’s share with Tether at about $139 billion and USD Coin near $53 billion in market capitalization . Together they form the backbone of crypto trading and DeFi, their combined value even comparable to one-eighth of Canada’s GDP. Yet as stablecoins swell in significance, a new cohort of challengers is emerging.
From decentralized protocols dangling double-digit yields to fintech giants and regional currency tokens, these upstarts are keen to disrupt USDT and USDC’s duopoly. Below, we profile ten stablecoins — spanning fiat-backed, crypto-collateralized, and algorithmic designs — that are best positioned to nibble away at the dominance of the incumbents soon.
1. Dai (DAI)
Company/Project: MakerDAO (Maker Foundation)
Year of Launch: 2017
Current Price: $1.00
Current Market Cap: $5.36 billion
Originally hatched in the early days of DeFi, Dai is the stalwart decentralized stablecoin that proved a crypto-backed token could hold a $1 peg. Launched in 2017 by the MakerDAO project, Dai began as a single-collateral stablecoin (backed only by Ether) and later evolved into “Multi-Collateral Dai” allowing various crypto assets as backing. Users generate DAI by depositing cryptocurrencies as overcollateralized loans into Maker’s smart contracts, ensuring each DAI is secured by more than $1 worth of assets. Over the years, MakerDAO has even diversified into real-world assets – today a chunk of Dai’s value is indirectly backed by short-term U.S. Treasury bills as well as USD Coin, reflecting a pragmatic tilt to stability.
This conservative approach helped Dai weather volatile markets (it briefly became the largest decentralized stablecoin at over $7 billion in circulation, before settling to about $5.3 billion today. Recent governance moves (part of an overhaul dubbed “Endgame”) aim to further decentralize Maker’s control and reduce reliance on centralized collateral.
As a community-governed token with an 8-year track record, Dai embodies the decentralized ethos and has a devoted DeFi user base. However, its growth has plateaued – trailing far behind USDT/USDC – partly due to its cautious overcollateralization and competition from newer decentralized options. Dai is unlikely to dethrone Tether or Circle outright, but it remains a cornerstone of decentralized finance. If regulators or investors ever turn sour on fiat-custodied stablecoins, Dai’s proven model could make it the dark horse contender to surge in market share.
2. Ethena USD (USDe)
Company/Project: Ethena (Ethena Protocol)
Year of Launch: 2024
Current Price: $1.00
Current Market Cap: $5.39 billion
One of the fastest-rising stablecoin stars of the past year has been Ethena’s USDe – a decentralized synthetic dollar that burst onto the scene in early 2024 and swiftly became the third-largest stablecoin. Launched by the Ethena protocol in February 2024, USDe attracted billions in a matter of months by offering unusually high yields to stablecoin holders. Ethena’s approach blends DeFi and CeFi (so-called “CeDeFi”): users mint USDe by depositing crypto collateral like BTC or ETH, and Ethena then hedges that collateral’s volatility through off-chain derivatives trades.
The resulting “cash-and-carry” arbitrage strategy neutralizes price swings and generates revenue, which Ethena passes on as interest to USDe holders. This model delivered eye-popping returns — an average 17.5% APY since launch, peaking as high as 55.9% in March 2024. Such double-digit yields, fully backed by the protocol’s managed reserve, proved irresistible: by late 2024 USDe’s circulating supply had rocketed past $5 billion, surpassing Maker’s DAI in the rankings. Ethena has actively integrated with the crypto ecosystem (e.g. major trading desks like Wintermute began accepting USDe as collateral to build liquidity and trust.
Ethena USDe’s rapid adoption showcases the market’s appetite for yield-bearing stablecoins. If it can sustain its peg and returns, USDe could pose a genuine challenge to slower-growing incumbents, especially among sophisticated crypto users seeking passive income. However, its complex strategy introduces new risk vectors – reliance on off-chain exchanges and derivatives could expose USDe to black-swan failures. Regulatory scrutiny is also rising; German authorities have questioned Ethena’s licensing and capital buffers for USDe’s issuance.
In the near term, USDe is on track to erode some of USDT/USDC’s market share by offering what those giants do not (a native yield), but its long-term ascent will depend on maintaining transparency and stability under pressure. For now, Ethena’s stablecoin is a disruptive upstart blending Wall Street tactics with DeFi, and it has firmly put the incumbents on notice.
3. First Digital USD (FDUSD)
Company/Project: First Digital Group (FD121 Ltd.)
Year of Launch: 2023
Current Price: $1.00
Current Market Cap: $2.41 billion
While U.S. regulators have tightened the screws on dollar stablecoins, Hong Kong has emerged as an unlikely springboard for a new challenger. First Digital USD was launched in mid-2023 by First Digital, a Hong Kong-based trust and financial services firm, under that region’s evolving crypto-friendly regulations. In essence, FDUSD is a fiat-backed stablecoin: for every token issued, one U.S. dollar or equivalent high-quality asset is held in reserve by a regulated custodian.
Within months of launch, FDUSD found a powerful ally – Binance. The world’s largest crypto exchange began supporting FDUSD trading pairs in 2023, partly as a replacement for its own BUSD token (whose issuance was halted by U.S. regulators). This backing turbocharged FDUSD’s growth. By early 2024, its circulation had swollen to around $2.4 billion, making it one of the top five stablecoins globally. The token’s design includes a unique programmability feature, allowing it to interact with smart contracts for uses like escrow and insurance without intermediaries. This positions FDUSD not just as a transactional dollar, but as a building block for more complex financial products in the crypto ecosystem.
With First Digital’s trust license and Hong Kong’s pro-crypto stance, FDUSD is positioned as a fully-regulated Asian alternative to Tether and USDC. Its rapid rise underscores the demand for non-U.S. issued stablecoins, especially in exchange markets. Continued support from Binance (and potentially other Asian exchanges) could see FDUSD eating into USDC’s market share in particular – already it boasts liquidity and volume on par with some established U.S. stablecoins. However, its fortunes are tightly linked to Binance’s patronage and the regulatory climate. Should Hong Kong’s rules or Binance’s priorities shift, FDUSD’s ascent could stall. In the near term, though, this newcomer’s momentum and regional base make it one of the most credible challengers to the dominant duo, especially in the Asia-Pacific trading sphere.
4. PayPal USD (PYUSD)
Company/Project: PayPal (issued by Paxos Trust)
Year of Launch: 2023
Current Price: $1.00
Current Market Cap: $0.79 billion
When a fintech behemoth like PayPal enters the arena, even the crypto old guard takes notice. In August 2023, PayPal Holdings – a $70+ billion payments company – launched PayPal USD, instantly making it the first major U.S. financial services firm to issue a stablecoin. PYUSD is a fully fiat-backed dollar token issued by Paxos Trust Company (the same regulated entity behind USDP and formerly BUSD). Every PYUSD is backed 1:1 by U.S. dollar deposits, short-term Treasuries, and similar cash equivalents held by Paxos. At launch, PayPal emphasized the product’s compliance and transparency, courting regulators with monthly reserve attestations. Despite the big name behind it, PYUSD’s initial growth was measured – by early 2024 its market cap hovered just under $800 million.
But PayPal has been steadily leveraging its vast user base (over 350 million active accounts) and merchant network to drive adoption. The coin is integrated into PayPal’s and Venmo’s apps, allowing seamless swapping of dollars to PYUSD. In a bid to broaden its appeal, PayPal pushed PYUSD onto multiple blockchains: notably, it launched on Solana in 2024 to enable faster, cheaper transactions. PayPal even rolled out incentives like a crypto rewards program via Anchorage Digital to encourage holding and using PYUSD.
PYUSD brings heavyweight credibility and brand recognition that few crypto-native projects can match. In the coming years, its greatest strength is PayPal itself – the company could integrate PYUSD for e-commerce checkouts, remittances, or high-volume consumer payments, instantly scaling its usage. That said, PayPal faces an uphill battle in the wild west of crypto trading, where USDT and USDC are deeply entrenched.
PYUSD’s cautious rollout indicates a long-term play: it may not threaten Tether’s trading dominance overnight, but its presence could steadily grow in regulated circles, enterprise blockchain applications, and among retail users new to crypto. Should PayPal aggressively promote PYUSD for international transfers or DeFi applications, we could see this stablecoin become a serious contender. At minimum, PayPal’s entrance has validated the stablecoin concept in the eyes of traditional finance – a development that might embolden other big tech or banking players to follow, ultimately chipping away at the incumbents’ share.
5. Aave GHO (GHO)
Company/Project: Aave Companies / Aave DAO
Year of Launch: 2023
Current Price: $1.00
Current Market Cap: $0.21 billion
Decentralized lending giant Aave made a splash in 2023 by launching its own stablecoin, GHO, adding a powerful new player to the decentralized stablecoin sector. GHO (pronounced “ghost”) is an overcollateralized stablecoin similar in concept to Dai: users can mint GHO by borrowing against crypto assets they supply on the Aave platform, with loans accruing interest to Aave’s DAO. Uniquely, Aave lets its community govern the GHO issuance parameters – for example, setting interest rates or caps – making it a stablecoin by and for Aave users. Since its debut on Ethereum in mid-2023, GHO’s supply has grown to about 208 million tokens in circulation, a respectable start that places it among the top decentralized dollars, though still small relative to centralized rivals. The Aave team has shown an innovative streak in managing GHO’s stability.
In one proposal, they moved to integrate real-world asset yields by backing GHO with tokenized money market fund shares (BlackRock’s short-term T-bill fund, via a token called BUIDL) to earn safe interest on reserves. This kind of strategy could allow GHO to pay interest to its holders or reduce reliance on purely crypto collateral. GHO has also expanded cross-chain, launching on layer-2 networks like Arbitrum and Base to widen its usage within DeFi apps.
Backed by one of DeFi’s largest communities, GHO has a strong foundation to grow within decentralized finance circles. Its fate is tied to Aave’s platform: as Aave attracts borrowers and lenders, demand for GHO as a stable borrowing currency could increase. In the near term, GHO is more likely to siphon market share from other decentralized stablecoins (like DAI) than to displace the big two. But its steady 146% growth in late 2024 signals confidence in its model. If GHO can continue innovating – for instance, by sharing yield with holders or by deepening liquidity – it might become a formidable competitor.
Still, with a sub-$1B market cap, GHO poses only a minor threat to USDT/USDC for now. Its significance lies in proving that community-governed stablecoins can evolve rapidly. In the long run, a successful GHO adds pressure on the dominant issuers by offering a stablecoin that is fully transparent and adaptable, traits that could attract users should trust in centralized stalwarts ever waver.
6. USDD (USDD)
Company/Project: TRON DAO Reserve (Justin Sun/Tron Foundation)
Year of Launch: 2022
Current Price: $1.00
Current Market Cap: $0.26 billion
Not all challengers come from traditional finance or Ethereum DeFi. USDD is the flagship stablecoin of the Tron network, launched in mid-2022 by crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun. Billed initially as an “algorithmic” stablecoin inspired by TerraUSD’s model, USDD sought to leverage Tron’s huge user base (Tron’s network famously hosts tens of billions in Tether liquidity for low-cost transfers). In its first months, USDD offered extremely high deposit rates – around 20–30% APY – via the Tron DAO Reserve, which subsidized yields to entice adoption. However, the collapse of Terra’s UST in May 2022 cast a long shadow.
Despite holding a reserve of Bitcoin, Tron’s USDD briefly lost its $1 peg in late 2022, falling to ~$0.97 as investors grew wary of under-collateralization. The team responded by overhauling USDD’s design: they moved toward a hybrid model where USDD is (at least partly) backed by reserves (including USDC and TRX) and introduced mechanisms for users to mint USDD by locking collateral. By early 2025, USDD’s supply had contracted to about $265 million – down from its peak above $700M – reflecting a year of caution. Now, Tron is making a renewed push with “USDD 2.0”: an upgrade launched in January 2025 that allows community-governed minting against TRX and other assets, and crucially, restores a 20% APY staking yield fully subsidized by the Tron DAO Reserve to boost market confidence.
USDD’s trajectory has been turbulent, but Tron’s sheer scale in transactions (it’s a top network for stablecoin transfers) means even a modest success could translate into big numbers. The rebooted USDD 2.0 signals Tron’s commitment to challenging the status quo – effectively trying to succeed where Terra failed, by offering Anchor-like yields with (hopefully) more robust collateralization. If Tron DAO can maintain the peg and pay out yields from its reserves sustainably, USDD could begin to pull users from Tether, especially within the Tron ecosystem itself where USDT dominates.
That’s a big “if,” though. The specter of algorithmic failure still looms, and many investors will demand a long period of proven stability before trusting USDD at scale. In summary, USDD is an ambitious play to undercut USDT/USDC on yield and network efficiency. It likely won’t rival them in size imminently – its market cap is tiny today – but it remains one to watch, particularly in Asia. Tron’s gambit is that by paying users to hold its stablecoin, it can bootstrap trust and liquidity over time. Whether that’s a sustainable strategy or a risky subsidy, only time (and transparency) will tell.
7. Usual USD (USD0)
Company/Project: Usual Finance (Usual Protocol)
Year of Launch: 2024
Current Price: $1.00
Current Market Cap: $0.95 billion
Amid the rush to tokenize Treasuries on Wall Street, one project has quietly introduced a stablecoin that bridges real-world assets and DeFi. Usual USD (USD0) is a relatively new stablecoin that emerged in 2024, distinguishing itself by backing each token with tokenized real-world assets (RWA) such as government bonds and commercial paper – in essence, similar collateral to what Tether and Circle hold, but with a twist. Usual USD’s protocol shares the yield from those assets with its community via a governance token called USUAL. This means holders of USD0 indirectly benefit from the interest generated by the reserves (though the stablecoin itself stays pegged at $1, the USUAL token accrues the value). In practice, USD0 operates under a full-reserve, fiat-backed model not unlike USDC, but decentralized ownership of the issuing protocol sets it apart.
Despite launching under the radar, USD0 struck a chord: it has already grown to nearly $1 billion in market cap, putting it in the top tier of stablecoins by size. Much of this growth has come from DeFi users looking for transparent, yield-generating alternatives to the big fiat stables. USD0 is primarily active on Ethereum and Arbitrum, where it’s traded on decentralized exchanges like Uniswap and Curve with significant volume. By tokenizing assets like T-bills and even real estate, Usual Finance aims to increase liquidity for those assets and give stablecoin users a stake in the upside of traditional markets.
Usual USD embodies the convergence of TradFi and DeFi in the stablecoin space. Its rapid ascent indicates that offering a stablecoin with clear backing and a value-sharing model can attract nearly a billion dollars without a centralized corporate sponsor. If USDT and USDC are the “money market funds” of crypto (earning interest for their issuers), USD0 is like an index fund that shares those earnings with its holders via protocol incentives. This poses a subtle but powerful challenge: over time, users may gravitate to stablecoins that give them more than just stability. Still, USD0 is young and faces hurdles.
It will need to maintain strict transparency and compliance as it grows (authorities will be keen on any RWA-backed token handling securities). Also, its two-token structure (USD0 + USUAL) can be complex for casual users. Nonetheless, in a future where stablecoin usage extends beyond just trading – into savings and investing – USD0’s model could prove very attractive. It’s not inconceivable that rivals might adopt similar profit-sharing approaches. In short, Usual USD has planted a flag for a new kind of “stablecoin 2.0” – one that could quietly erode the market share of giants by offering a more community-aligned value proposition.
8. Frax (FRAX)
Company/Project: Frax Finance
Year of Launch: 2020
Current Price: $1.00 (pegged)
Current Market Cap: $0.35 billion
Frax made headlines as the world’s first fractional-algorithmic stablecoin, introducing a novel hybrid design when it launched in late 2020. The brainchild of Sam Kazemian’s Frax Finance, FRAX was conceived to be partially backed by collateral and partially stabilized by an algorithmic mechanism. In simpler terms, each FRAX could be, say, 80% backed by USDC and 20% stabilized by the value of a governance token (FXS) through open market operations. This approach allowed Frax to be capital-efficient – requiring less than $1 of assets per $1 of stablecoin – and it indeed helped Frax grow rapidly during the 2021–2022 DeFi boom.
By early 2022, FRAX’s supply exceeded $2 billion, putting it among the top stablecoins at the time. Frax Finance also expanded its ecosystem, launching Frax Shares (FXS) as the governance and value accrual token, and deploying novel products like FraxLend and Frax Ether (a liquid staking derivative). However, the implosion of TerraUSD in May 2022 spooked the market on anything resembling an algorithmic stable. Frax responded prudently: it increased its collateralization ratio to protect the peg (eventually approaching 100% collateral backing with a large portion in USDC), trading off some of its unique fractional aspect for resilience. As a result, FRAX’s supply has gradually shrunk – today it stands around $350 million. The protocol has pivoted focus to other ventures (like an inflation-pegged stablecoin and lending services), and FRAX now functions similarly to other crypto-backed stablecoins, albeit with a still-powerful governance token influencing its stability fees.
Frax’s journey illustrates both the promise and peril of algorithmic stablecoins. In concept, FRAX could have been a serious USDT/USDC rival, since a fractional reserve model is more scalable. In practice, market psychology favored fully-backed models after high-profile crashes. Going forward, FRAX is unlikely to threaten the top stablecoins’ dominance unless trust in those centralized coins falters dramatically. Its current market share is small, and even its creator has embraced higher collateral levels (dampening one of its competitive advantages). That said, Frax Finance is respected for innovation – it survived the algorithmic stablecoin purge where others like Basis and Terra did not. If the pendulum ever swings back to more liberal designs (for example, if regulators put hard caps on fiat-backed stablecoin issuance), FRAX could see a resurgence.
In the near term, it serves as a cautious reminder that technical success (maintaining a peg via creative mechanisms) must be coupled with market confidence. Frax may no longer be the poster child of disruptive stablecoins, but its legacy informs the next generation of designs. And with a community still backing FXS, we can’t rule out Frax Finance pulling off another surprise pivot that reignites FRAX’s growth. For now, though, FRAX’s role is more complementary than competitive vis-à-vis USDT and USDC.
9. TrueUSD (TUSD)
Company/Project: Techteryx (formerly TrustToken)
Year of Launch: 2018
Current Price: $1.00
Current Market Cap: $0.49 billion
TrueUSD has lived many lives in its quest to challenge Tether. Launched in 2018 by startup TrustToken, TUSD was one of the earliest fully fiat-collateralized stablecoins to hit the market after USDT. Its value proposition was simple: 1 TUSD is backed by $1 held in escrow by regulated fiduciaries, with live attestations provided to the public. During a time when Tether faced transparency criticisms, TUSD offered a more transparent alternative and gained a small but loyal user base. Over the years, the project changed hands – it’s now managed by an Asian consortium called Techteryx – but it continued to serve as a reliable dollar token.
TUSD’s big break came in early 2023 when Binance, grappling with the shutdown of its own BUSD token, elevated TUSD as a preferred stablecoin on its exchange. Binance temporarily zero-fee’d certain trading pairs using TUSD, and as a result TUSD’s circulation spiked from a few hundred million to over $2 billion at its peak in mid-2023. However, growing pains followed. That same year, one of TUSD’s key banking partners, Prime Trust, faced solvency issues, forcing TUSD to pause minting for a time. Although the team stated they had no material exposure and quickly restored operations, market jitters led to a sell-off and slight depeg in June 2023. TUSD has since moved to diversify its custodians and resumed regular reserve attestations, but its market cap has declined to around $500 million as Binance shifted support elsewhere.
TrueUSD’s story reflects the challenges of being a smaller fiat-backed stablecoin in a realm of giants. It has proven its technical merit – the token has maintained its peg through various stress tests – but scale and trust are crucial in this game. TUSD currently lacks a unique edge now that USDC has similar transparency and bigger networks. Its temporary surge under Binance’s wing showed that exchange patronage can catapult a stablecoin upward, but also how fleeting such advantage can be.
Unless TUSD secures new major partnerships or finds a niche (perhaps in jurisdictions or use-cases where others can’t operate), it may remain a second-tier player. On the other hand, TUSD’s compliance-forward approach and relatively long history could make it a contingency choice if regulators ever crackdown on bigger players (for instance, traders might rotate into TUSD if USDT faced an existential issue). In summary, TrueUSD is a competent stablecoin that has been to the mountaintop and back. Its direct threat to USDT/USDC is minimal at present, but it remains part of the stablecoin landscape as a reminder that multiple issuers can coexist. In the stablecoin race, TUSD is positioning itself as the reliable understudy – ready to step in should the stars stumble.
10. Euro Coin (EUROC)
Company/Project: Circle (Centre Consortium)
Year of Launch: 2022
Current Price: €1.00 (≈ $1.08)
Current Market Cap: $0.15 billion
While USD-pegged tokens dominate the stablecoin universe, Circle Internet Financial – the firm behind USDC – has been quietly seeding a euro-pegged alternative. Euro Coin (EUROC) launched in mid-2022 as a fully-reserved stablecoin tied 1:1 to the euro. Like USDC, Euro Coin is issued under a regulated model: every EUROC corresponds to one euro held in bank accounts, with attestations to match. In a world where the U.S. dollar reigned supreme in crypto (over 99% of fiat stablecoin value is USD-pegged), Euro Coin’s introduction was as much a bet on the future as a response to present demand. Adoption started slowly – by 2023, EUROC’s market cap was in the low eight figures – but it gained traction among European exchanges and DeFi platforms offering forex trading and euro-based lending.
As of early 2025, about €138 million EUROC are in circulation, equivalent to roughly $148 million in market cap. Circle has expanded Euro Coin beyond Ethereum to other chains (like Avalanche and Solana) to make it more accessible. Importantly, regulatory developments in the EU could bolster EUROC’s prospects. The European Union’s comprehensive MiCA regulation took effect in late 2024, providing a clear framework for stablecoins denominated in euros. Circle’s Euro Coin, as a MiCA-compliant “e-money token,” is positioned to benefit from this newfound legitimacy at a time when euro-denominated crypto volumes are expected to grow.
Euro Coin addresses a gap in the market – the need for a trusted non-USD stablecoin for global users. While it’s no immediate threat to USDT or USDC’s hegemony, its growth could slowly erode the relative dominance of dollar-backed tokens in certain niches. For instance, European trading pairs and DeFi protocols might increasingly use EUROC for settling in euros, reducing reliance on converting to USD stablecoins. In the long run, if geopolitical or economic shifts lead to a stronger euro or more euro-based crypto activity, EUROC stands ready to scale.
For now, its $150M size is a drop in the bucket, but it represents an important diversification of the stablecoin landscape. As global stablecoin usage grows, it’s conceivable that baskets of stablecoins (USD, EUR, others) will collectively share the space rather than a single currency token monopolizing it. Euro Coin likely won’t “challenge” USDT on its own – they serve different currency demand – but it could undercut Tether’s euro-pegged offerings (EURT) and ensure that Circle remains the leader across multiple fiat tokens. In summary, EUROC’s rise, however gradual, points to a multi-currency future for stablecoins, one where dollar dominance might give way to a more pluralistic market.
Conclusion: A Changing Stablecoin Landscape
Stablecoins have evolved from a convenient on-ramp for crypto trading into a pillar of global finance, with a total market value now rivaling the economies of mid-sized nations. Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC still tower above the rest – together accounting for roughly 90% of all stablecoin value – but the ten challengers above illustrate how dynamic this sector has become. Each aspiring rival brings something unique: some, like Ethena USDe and Tron’s USDD, offer tantalizing yields that traditional stablecoins don’t pay.
Others, like Aave’s GHO and Maker’s DAI, double down on decentralization and crypto-collateral to differentiate from bank-dependent models. Fintech entrants (PayPal USD) and regulated upstarts (FDUSD in Hong Kong) highlight a trend of mainstream and regional players carving out their own dollar-pegged domains. We also see innovation in asset strategy – Usual USD’s real-world asset backing and profit-sharing model, for example, could foreshadow a new wave of interest-bearing stablecoins that chip away at incumbents by design.
In the coming years, key shifts could reorder the stablecoin leaderboard. Regulatory clarity (or crackdowns) will play kingmaker and king-slayer alike: Europe’s MiCA and Hong Kong’s openness may elevate local stablecoins, while any stumble by Tether or Circle in transparency could send users flocking to decentralized or alternative options. Market needs are diversifying too. As blockchain use cases expand, demand for non-USD stablecoins (euros, yen, etc.) and sector-specific stablecoins (for gaming, commodities, or carbon credits) might surge, ending the Dollar’s absolute reign on-chain.
One certainty is that competition will spur better products – safer reserves, more audits, and maybe even interest for users. USDT and USDC are unlikely to relinquish their throne easily; they enjoy network effects and deep trust built over years. But the rapid ascent of some rivals shows how quickly tides can turn in crypto. Today’s niche stablecoin can be tomorrow’s multi-billion dollar heavyweight. For investors and observers, the stablecoin space bears close watching: it’s the foundation of the crypto economy, and its evolution will shape the future of digital money in parallel with – and perhaps even influencing – traditional finance.