The $1 Billion Tether Mint: Tron vs Ethereum – Who’s Winning? 🤑

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Ah, the game of crypto dominance! And it’s Tron making a cheeky move to snatch the crown from Ethereum once again. On May 5, Tether decided to bless the Tron network with another fresh minting of $1 billion in USDT, according to Arkham Intelligence. The total? A cool $71.4 billion USDT on Tron, as per Tether’s Transparency report. Not bad, huh? Not bad at all.

Now, let’s pause for a second and examine the leaderboard. Ethereum has a respectable $72.8 billion USDT circulating, leaving only $1.4 billion between the two rivals. In the world of stablecoins, that’s practically a neck-and-neck race. If Tron manages to mint just a tiny bit more, we’ll have a new contender for the title of ‘Leading Stablecoin Network’—and that’s where it’s been for two blissful years.

Tron led the charge in USDT circulation from July 2022 to November 2024, until Ethereum had to ruin the fun with an $18 billion mint, stealing the limelight once more. Classic Ethereum, always the show-off.

Meanwhile, the third-place holder, Solana, is humbly sitting with $1.9 billion USDT circulating. Small potatoes compared to the big boys, but hey, it’s still ahead of the likes of Ton, Avalanche, Aptos, Near, Celo, and Cosmos. And let’s not forget the image of their humble little presence in this grand casino of digital currencies.

The Ultimate Crypto Race

As for Tether’s grand total circulation, well, it’s sitting pretty at an all-time high of $149.4 billion USDT. That’s a whopping 8.6% increase just this year alone. Naturally, it’s hogging a 61% share of the stablecoin market, leaving its competition, Circle, with a measly 25%. Ouch. Circle’s sitting at $62 billion USDC, but they’re not even in the same league right now. 😏

Stablecoin issuance is having a little growth spurt. Over the past six months, stablecoins now represent a solid 8% of the total crypto market cap. And don’t be surprised if the US Treasury predicts a $2 trillion stablecoin market by 2028, assuming the powers-that-be finally figure out how to regulate it properly. 🙄

Stablecoin Legislation: Almost Here… Maybe?

The US is on the verge of passing two crucial pieces of legislation that could solidify stablecoins’ future. One of them is the GENIUS Act (yes, the acronym is truly “GENIUS”—how *fitting*), which defines “payment stablecoins” and sets reserve rules for issuers. These senators are about to vote on it before May 26, so hold onto your hats, folks.

There’s also the STABLE Act, which is trying to regulate “federally qualified nonbank payment stablecoin issuers.” It’s still crawling its way through Congress, but it’s coming… eventually.

And let’s not forget Tether. They’re planning to launch a US-based stablecoin later this year. Whether that happens depends entirely on whether or not these legal hurdles get cleared. Fingers crossed.

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2025-05-06 06:15