On Tuesday, October 21, Tether, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin by market capitalization, USDT USDT $1.00 24h volatility: 0.0% Market cap: $182.51 B Vol. 24h: $164.23 B , announced that it has reached 500 million verified users worldwide.

The Paolo Ardoino-led company shared the milestone with its 546,000 followers on X, calling for celebrations.

Founded in 2014 as Realcoin by Brock Pierce, Reeve Collins, and Craig Sellars, Tether has now emerged as the most widely used digital dollar in global trade. The firm also revealed plans to release a documentary film shot in Kenya, showcasing how USDT has transformed cross-border transactions and its difference-making impact in underserved markets.

Holding over $127 billion in US securities at the close of Q2 2025, the company recently launched the Plasma (XPL) blockchain, designed to financialize its treasury holdings and further deepen US adoption in the emerging asset tokenization sectors.

According to DeFiLlama data, Plasma attracted over $6 billion in total value locked (TVL) within a week of its launch, reflecting positive market response.

Rival stablecoin issuer Circle (USDC) reported 87 million unique wallet addresses globally as of Q1 2025, according to data from Coinlaw. Tether’s 500 million verified user count means it now commands an 82% larger active user base compared to USDC.

However, the gap narrows in terms of market capitalization. Tether’s $182 billion market value exceeds USDC’s $76.7 billion by only 58%, suggesting that despite Tether’s wider adoption, its users hold smaller average balances.

A deeper breakdown shows that USDT’s $182 billion capitalization equates to roughly $364 per user, whereas USDC’s $76.7 billion divided among its 90 million users averages about $852 per user. This disparity emphasizes how USDC caters predominantly to institutional users, while USDT enjoys broader retail penetration, particularly in regions with restricted access to US dollars.

According to CoinGecko data, the total global stablecoin market capitalization currently stands near $316 billion, with Tether and Circle collectively accounting for over 82% of that figure.

Analysts at Citibank project that this figure could surpass $1 trillion by 2030, fueled by the expansion of tokenized Treasury markets and real-world asset (RWA) adoption.

.@Citi's latest projections reveal something bigger than payments.

Stablecoins are fundamentally restructuring government debt markets. pic.twitter.com/ueXZap2eKl

— Eco (@eco) October 20, 2025

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