The combined marketplace capitalization of the 5 biggest stablecoins passed $200 cardinal for the archetypal clip aft Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pledged connected Friday to usage the integer assets to assistance support the greenback arsenic the world's reserve currency.
The marketplace headdress of the coins, whose worth is pegged to a real-world equivalent specified arsenic the U.S. dollar, climbed arsenic precocious arsenic $205 billion, Glassnode information shows. Demand was buoyed by investors seeking relief from sliding cryptocurrencies specified arsenic bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH).
Since President Donald Trump won the U.S. election, the stablecoin marketplace headdress has grown by $40 billion. With some cryptocurrencies and U.S. equities struggling successful caller weeks, stablecoins person emerged arsenic the wide winners.
Market person Tether's USDT has maintained a marketplace headdress of astir $140 cardinal since December, portion second-placed USDC, issued by Circle, is nearing $60 cardinal — an summation of $25 cardinal since the election.
At the Digital Asset Summit connected Friday, Bessent said, "We are going to support the U.S. the ascendant reserve currency, and we volition usage stablecoins to bash it."
Bessent's remarks item concerns implicit macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty, which could pb to a diminution successful overseas request for U.S. debt, pushing treasury yields higher. Over the past year, Japan and China, the 2 largest holders of U.S. Treasuries, person reduced their holdings.
For the dollar to support its presumption arsenic the world’s reserve currency, determination indispensable beryllium accordant request for U.S. debt. The medication identified stablecoins arsenic an perfect spouse successful this strategy.
By holding U.S. indebtedness arsenic reserves, stablecoins tin assistance little Treasury yields portion simultaneously expanding the planetary scope and dominance of the dollar. Stablecoins request to person dollars disposable to repay investors looking to currency out. Tether is already 1 of the largest holders of three-month U.S. Treasuries.