Tether’s $5.2 Billion Payday Shows How Stablecoins Won
According to CoinGecko’s 2025 industry report, Tether pulled in roughly $5.2 billion last year—claiming over 41 percent of all stablecoin revenue. The firm looked at more than 168 protocols, and the result was pretty clear: stablecoin issuers are now generating more consistent cash than most exchanges or DeFi platforms. In fact, the top ten earners included four stablecoin companies, with Tether and Circle together accounting for nearly two-thirds of total income.
What makes this interesting isn’t just the size of the numbers—it’s the stability. Trading platforms and DeFi protocols ride wild swings depending on market sentiment. Tether’s revenue, on the other hand, comes mainly from interest earned on the U.S. Treasury bills backing USDT reserves. That income kept flowing month after month, regardless of whether Bitcoin was surging or crashing.
Compare that to something like Phantom, the Solana wallet that saw fees hit $95 million in January during the meme-coin craze, only to fall to $8.6 million by December. Stablecoins, it turns out, are the tortoise in crypto’s race—slow, steady, and increasingly dominant.
The Stablecoin Market Hit $311 Billion, But Not Everyone Won
By the end of 2025, total stablecoin market cap reached $311 billion, up nearly 49 percent from the year before. USDT controls about 60 percent of that—roughly $187 billion—making it the third-largest crypto asset by market value. Circle’s USDC holds another 24 percent, and the rest is split among a long tail of competitors trying to carve out niches.
But the year wasn’t kind to everyone. USDe, a high-yield stablecoin that relied on leverage strategies, lost more than half its supply after a brief de-peg in October scared users off. Meanwhile, PayPal’s PYUSD climbed 48 percent to $3.6 billion, briefly breaking into the top five. Ripple’s RLUSD added nearly half a billion as it expanded into African remittance corridors, and USDD—an algorithmic coin still recovering from its 2022 collapse—grew 77 percent as it tried to rebuild trust.
The pattern is becoming clear: users want boring. Conservative backing models and recognizable brands are winning. Anything that feels experimental or fragile gets punished fast.
Tether Is Turning Into Something Bigger Than a Stablecoin Issuer
With billions rolling in and a balance sheet that rivals some sovereign wealth funds, Tether is no longer just about issuing dollar tokens. The company has quietly taken minority stakes in renewable-energy projects, Latin American payment networks, and—according to reports—even made an all-cash offer for a controlling stake in Juventus, the Italian soccer club. The bid was rejected, but it signals ambition far beyond crypto rails.
Some analysts are forecasting that if USDT’s supply grows to $3 trillion, the interest income alone could rival Saudi Aramco’s 2024 profits. Bitwise’s Matt Hougan has pointed out that in many emerging economies, USDT already works better than local banks—offering dollar stability, 24/7 access, and instant settlement. If that’s true, the runway for growth is enormous.
What a $500 Billion Valuation Really Means
Rumors of a private funding round valuing Tether at close to half a trillion dollars aren’t just about the stablecoin reserves. They reflect the company’s expanding portfolio of Treasury bills, equity investments, and its role as the backbone of global crypto liquidity. At that scale, Tether isn’t a crypto company anymore—it’s a financial institution with systemic importance.
That brings new questions. Regulators will eventually want more transparency and oversight. Investors are starting to see stablecoins not as boring utilities but as high-margin cash businesses with moats. And for the rest of crypto, Tether’s rise is a reminder: sometimes the biggest winners aren’t the flashiest—they’re the ones quietly collecting interest while everyone else chases the next big trade.
