Stablecoins Collapse: USDT & USDC Hit 2026 Lows on Ethereum

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On-chain data, that nosy neighbor of the crypto world, reports that the Ethereum versions of USDT and USDC-the two most ubiquitous stablecoins-have slipped to their 2026 low in active addresses.

USDC & USDT Go Quiet On Ethereum

Santiment, that caffeinated bunch who treat wallet activity like a diary entry, posted on X about the latest trend in the Daily Active Addresses for the Ethereum versions of USDT and USDC. Because nothing says “fun Friday” like watching digits blink on a blockchain chart.

This little metric measures the daily total number of addresses participating in some kind of transaction on the network. In other words, how many people remembered they own digital money and clicked “send.”

When the value of this metric climbs, it means more addresses are popping online on the blockchain every day. A rising number is basically a thumbs-up from the internet gods that people still care about their tokens.

Conversely, a decline suggests holders are retreating, clutching their coins like a toddler clutching a stuffed bear during a thunderstorm-quiet, tense, and less likely to cause a ruckus on the network.

Now, here is the chart shared by Santiment that shows the trend in this metric for USDT and USDC on the Ethereum blockchain over the last few months:

As displayed in the above graph, both the top two stablecoins have seen a drawdown in the Daily Active Addresses, suggesting activity related to them has declined. More specifically, the metric has dropped to 202,300 for USDT and 109,300 for USDC. Both these values are the lowest that they have been since December.

Stablecoins occupy a different chair in the crypto cafeteria than volatile assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum; investors use them when they want to stash their capital away from the rollercoaster that is the rest of the market.

Because of this reason, stablecoins are often considered to represent the “dry powder” sitting on the sidelines in the digital asset sector. Whenever these tokens are on the move, it means investors are either stashing away capital or injecting it into the volatile side.

Given that the Daily Active Addresses has plunged for the Ethereum blockchain version of USDT and USDC recently, it would appear that there isn’t much demand for stablecoin-related swaps right now.

Interestingly, this trend has come alongside a recovery surge in Ethereum and other assets. As such, it’s possible that the volatility could soon ignite fresh activity in the space. As Santiment explained:

With Bitcoin making good momentum today and pushing toward $75K, expect for traders’ buying power to pick up a bit as they look to take more chances. More volatility means more ‘dry powder’ being moved.

In related news, USDT has seen its market cap reverse course recently, as CryptoQuant community analyst Maartunn has highlighted in an X post.

From the chart, it’s apparent that the 60-day change in the USDT market cap was negative earlier, but it’s just now starting to make its way back into the positive territory.

ETH Price

At the time of writing, Ethereum is floating around $2,300, up 10% in the last seven days.

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2026-04-15 09:58