Crypto
Stablecoins Moved More Than 90 Trillion Dollars in a Year as the GENIUS Licensing Clock Ticks
The Block Research reported September 8 that stablecoin supply held near $290 billion from October 2025 through August 2026, even as Bitcoin fell more than 50 percent and total crypto market capitalization shed over $2 trillion. About 90 percent of that supply is issued by Tether and Circle. The money layer of crypto kept growing straight through the drawdown.
The growth survived the worst drawdown in years. Bitcoin down more than half, total crypto market capitalization down over $2 trillion, and stablecoin supply barely budged. That resilience is the strongest evidence yet that stablecoins have become infrastructure rather than speculation. They are the dollars of the on chain economy, and the on chain economy kept transacting through the storm.
The velocity numbers are the real story. Stablecoin transfer volume topped $90 trillion across 365 days, more than doubling since 2025, while daily turnover climbed from 0.38 times supply in August 2024 to 0.78 times in August 2026. People are holding stablecoins and using them constantly, at a scale that now rivals major payment networks.
The chain split shows where the action lives. Ethereum carries about $147 billion in stablecoins with daily turnover of 0.51 times, Tron holds over $90 billion at 0.25 times, Solana's $13 billion turns over 1.08 times daily, and Base's $4.5 billion spins at a blistering 16.7 times per day. Total market capitalization sits near $305 billion per CoinLaw, with USDT at roughly $183.36 billion for about 60 percent dominance and USDC at $74.38 billion.
The reserves back it up. As of early September, USDC had $74.3 billion in circulation against $74.5 billion in reserves, while Tether's net circulation stood at $183.35 billion with issuer net equity of $4.11 billion. This is the steady part of crypto working exactly as designed: fully backed digital dollars, audited and circulating.
The next catalyst already has a date. Treasury's rulemaking comment period closes October 19, 2026, and the GENIUS Act licensing requirement bites on January 18, 2027. Between now and then, expect issuers to race for licenses and banks to deepen partnerships. Euro stablecoins are already at an all time high of $776 million, up 68.2 percent year over year, and the dollar's digital cousins keep going global.
Regulation is catching up. Under the GENIUS Act, starting January 18, 2027, every payment stablecoin issuer in the United States will need a federal or state license. Treasury's August 17 rulemaking proposal carries a comment deadline of October 19, 2026, so the industry is shaping the rules right now. The licensing era is arriving with a clear calendar, and the biggest issuers are already positioned for it.
Here is the bigger picture for readers: stablecoins decoupled from the casino. Through a brutal bear stretch, the dollar on chain kept working, kept growing, and kept moving $90 trillion. That is what winning looks like in payments: quiet, relentless utility. With federal licensing on a fixed timeline, the next phase is institutional scale, and the infrastructure is already in place.
Sources
- KuCoin on stablecoin supply and $90T transfers
- CoinLaw on stablecoin reserves and transparency
- CoinDesk Research stablecoins and tokenized assets report
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