Stablecoins reach a historic peak of 323.3 billion

Crypto advances quietly, but it now leaves thick traces on the market table. In this large digital chessboard, stablecoins move their pawns with the coldness of a server room. They do not have the flair of bitcoin, nor the grimaces of memecoins. Yet, they already hold a good part of the liquidity, like a discreet queen behind louder pieces.

Stablecoins lock the chessboard with USDT as heavy king

The stablecoin market climbs to 323.3 billion dollars, after 2 billion dollars of inflows in seven days. The push confirms a massive return to tokenized dollars, without much speculative fireworks.

Tether holds the lead with 189.7 billion dollars and 58.67% dominance. In other words, USDT remains the king at the center of the board, while its rivals are still searching for the perfect opening.

USDC shows a bumpier trajectory according to recent reports. A week earlier, it attracted 1.61 billion dollars and climbed to 78.96 billion. Then it gave up more than 950 million to fall back near 77.06 billion.

This fluctuation illustrates a stablecoin market that has become tactical, almost surgical. Crypto investors no longer just store cash on-chain. They move their reserves, test yields, arbitrate risks, and choose sides according to market depth.

Crypto sees BlackRock, PayPal and Western Union advancing their knights

Behind Tether, several challengers advance without asking for permission. Sky’s USDS leaps 11.5% over the week and reaches 8.79 billion dollars. The 10 billion threshold is not far off.

DAI, its elder, remains fourth with 4.61 billion, despite slight erosion. World Liberty Financial’s USD1 also climbs 1.97%, with about 87 million additional inflows.

Then the game becomes more tense. Ethena’s USDe recovers 6.77%, after a period marked by painful withdrawals. PayPal’s PYUSD advances 1.32%, while BlackRock’s BUIDL gains 8.01%. USDG progresses by 9.63%, confirming appetite for new crypto products backed by the dollar.

The case of Western Union USDPT resembles a spectacular queen’s gambit: +597,568% in seven days. Yet its capitalization only reaches 1.5 million dollars. The figure shocks, but the piece remains tiny.

Old finance tests the terrain, without toppling the chessboard.

MiCA pushes the euro, but the dollar still holds the queen

Europe also tries to move its pieces with MiCA. Euro stablecoins have more than doubled after the deployment of the European regulatory framework. Their capitalization was around 500 million dollars in May 2025, then 680 million according to Decta.

Token Terminal even reports an on-chain record of 774.2 million as of May 13, 2026. Ethereum concentrates 66.2% of this supply, confirming its role as dominant infrastructure.

Yet, the gap with the dollar remains violent. Euro stablecoins remain tiny compared to the hundreds of billions controlled by USDT and USDC. On the other hand, volumes grow fast. Decta talks about monthly transactions multiplied almost by nine, to 3.83 billion dollars.

EURC and EURCV particularly benefit from this clearer regulation. In the same setting, tokenized assets rise to 26.7 billion, supported by tokenized treasuries at 16.2 billion. The market prepares a programmable finance, with reserves, yield and compliance on the same square.

Squares to watch on the board

• Global stablecoin market: over 323 billion dollars currently;
• USDT dominates with nearly 190 billion in capitalization;
• USDS quickly approaches the strategic 10 billion threshold;
• Euro stablecoins: on-chain record exceeding 774 million;
• Tokenized treasuries: 16.2 billion, or 60.4% of the sector.

Christine Lagarde nevertheless refuses to treat stablecoins as a simple nice innovation. The ECB president mainly fears a too powerful private digital dollar. Her antidote remains the digital euro, designed as a public dam against the tide of dollarized tokens.