Tether moves roughly $88 billion every day as of early 2026, more than the GDP of many countries. And it’s not alone – many stablecoins like USDC and DAI and newcomers like Ethena USDe have become pillars of the crypto ecosystem.
Stablecoins play a key role in crypto: They offer price stability, cross-border transactions at speed, and, for some, fiat-backed confidence. For crypto investors, choosing the right stablecoin can impact yield farming, trading, and transaction fees.
To get started in crypto, you’ll need access to the best crypto exchanges that support major stablecoins and offer tools for trading and storing your assets securely.
Editor's note: Numbers have been updated to reflect trading volumes, market cap, and other metrics from early January 2026, but will likely change again as the year progresses.
The largest and most popular stablecoins in 2026
The table below shows the largest stablecoins by market capitalization as well as their daily volume and circulating supply as of January 2026.
Rank | Stablecoin | Market Cap | Daily volume | Circulating supply |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tether (USDT) | $186,899,204,738 | $88,765,127,167 | 187.09 billion USDT |
2 | USDC (USDC) | $75,212,523,714 | $11,649,205,731 | 75.22 billion USDC |
3 | PayPal USD (PYUSD) | $3,646,449,388 | $95,348,645 | 3.64 billion PYUSD |
4 | Ripple USD (RLUSD) | $1,335,898,188 | $122,273,771 | 1.33 billion RLUSD |
5 | First Digital USD (FDUSD) | $505,471,087 | $3,865,501,319 | 506.31 million FDUSD |
6 | TrueUSD (TUSD) | $493,300,000 | $12,369,590 | 494.51 million TUSD |
7 | EURC (EURC) | $361,414,041 | $32,271,054 | 309.52 million EURC |
8 | STASIS EURO (EURS) | $144,497,745 | $5,190 | 124.12 million EURS |
9 | Frax USD (FRXUSD) | $122,849,765 | $151,747 | 122.92 million FRXUSD |
10 | BUSD (BUSD) | $54,651,413 | $837,213 | 54.64 million BUSD |
1. Tether
Market cap: $181,921,595,302 | Volume: $140,722,746,541 | Circulating supply: 181.87 billion USDT
Tether (USDT -0.02%) is the original stablecoin. Launched in 2014, it still dominates the crypto ecosystem in 2025 with a $158.9 billion market cap, more than 2.5 times the size of second-place USDC. Tether’s daily trading volume is more than $100 billion, which reflects unmatched usage in trading and settling despite periodic controversies over reserves and transparency.
2. USDC
Market cap: $75,978,607,108 | Volume: $16,667,670,407 | Circulating supply: 75.98 billion USDC
USD Coin (USDC -0.00%), issued by Circle and built on Ethereum, is the second-largest stablecoin by market cap and third-largest by daily volume. USDC has focused on integration into the traditional financial system. It can be used to settle transactions in Visa’s (V +0.17%) network, and its issuing company, Circle, went public on the New York Stock Exchange in June 2025.
3. Ethena
Market cap: $11,874,037,723 | Volume: $429,703,138 | Circulating supply: 11.88 billion USDe
Ethena USDe (USDE -0.22%) is the fourth-largest stablecoin by market cap. It uses Ethereum-based financial tools rather than fiat currency reserves to maintain its peg. Ethena is another stablecoin that’s popular in the DeFi space, in part due to its efficiency.
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