Stablecoin Reserves vs Brokerages and Banks: Which Holds More in 2025?

Stablecoin reserves are now comparable to some brokerage cash balances – but they still trail the trillions in customer deposits held by major banks.

By Jack Caporal – Updated Jan 27, 2026 at 3:06 PM EST | Fact-checked by Parker Hicks

Key Points

Tether's reserves, exceeding Schwab and Interactive Brokers, highlight its growing relevance in finance.
Combined assets of Tether and Circle surpass some brokerages but are well below major banks.
Increasing stablecoin reserves could drive integration into traditional finance despite regulatory hurdles.

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Data source: SEC filings, FDIC, and company audits (2025). Note: Some of the largest brokerages like Fidelity and Vanguard were excluded due to lack of directly comparable data.
Institution	Type	Assets Held for Customers
Tether	Stablecoin	$181.22 billion (attested reserves)
Circle (USDC)	Stablecoin	$74.5 billion (attested reserves)
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)	Brokerage	$201.7 billion (customer and other payables)
Interactive Brokers	Brokerage	$120.7 billion (payables to customers)
Charles Schwab	Brokerage	$100.6 billion (payables to brokerage clients)
Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD)	Brokerage	$7.1 billion (payables to users)
JPMorgan	Bank	$2.1 trillion (total deposits)
Bank of America	Bank	$1.9 trillion (total deposits)
Wells Fargo	Bank	$1.4 trillion (total deposits)
Citigroup (NYSE:C)	Bank	$773 billion (total deposits)

Stablecoin reserves are closing the gap with some brokerages, but not the largest ones. And they’re far from being comparable to major banks, which manage hundreds of billions or even trillions of dollars’ worth of customer deposits.

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Tether’s $181.22 billion in attested reserves is more than Charles Schwab’s reported payables to brokerage clients and almost on par with Interactive Brokers’ $120.7 billion reported payables to customers. But that’s still more than 10 times less than the customer deposits JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo are each responsible for.

Tether, which is the largest stablecoin by far, has been frequently scrutinized over transparency and the quality of its reporting of its reserves. Recent third-party audits have helped improve credibility, but concerns remain, highlighting a key difference between regulated banks and brokerages and stablecoin providers.

The two major stablecoins, Tether and Circle, account for $211.9 billion in customer-held assets, which are higher than Fidelity and Schwab’s combined payables to brokerage clients but less than Morgan Stanley’s.

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About the Author

Jack Caporal is the Research Director for The Motley Fool and Motley Fool Money. Jack leads efforts to identify and analyze trends shaping investing and personal financial decisions across the United States. His research has appeared in thousands of media outlets including Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, Bloomberg, and CNBC, and has been cited in congressional testimony. He previously covered business and economic trends as a reporter and policy analyst in Washington, D.C. He serves as Chair of the Trade Policy Committee at the World Trade Center in Denver, Colorado. He holds a B.A. degree in International Relations with a concentration in International Economics from Michigan State University.

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