After a consecutive 11-month growth, stablecoins reached a new all-time high of $168 billion in market cap.
DefiLlama stablecoin data shows their aggregate market cap is now at its highest point, beating the last peak of $167 billion registered in March 2022.
The calculations do not include algorithmic stablecoins, focusing on those cryptocurrencies whose value is pegged to external assets like fiat or gold.
Although the new all-time high doesn’t differ much from the value seen in March 2022, there’s hope that the stablecoin market won’t collapse as quickly and drastically this time. By the end of 2022, its market cap dropped to $135 billion, falling steadily since the peak. However, in 2024, we observe an opposite situation – steady growth patterns for almost a year now.
Throughout this year, major stablecoins on the market – Tether and Circle USD – have shown strong monthly growth. Stablecoins have been increasingly utilised by institutions and retailers. Besides, some industry players are leveraging stablecoins to facilitate cross-border payments in remittance-abundant regions such as Africa. In many countries, stablecoins have gained popularity due to high inflation levels.
The growth of the overall market and rise in use cases even stimulated the revival of long-postponed stablecoin projects like the euro-pegged stablecoin, EURT, developed by Next Generation and Decta.
At the same time, stablecoin trading volumes fell almost 9% in July and maintained subdued levels in August due to the decrease in stablecoin trading activity on centralised exchanges. Some of the traders’ concerns are related to MiCA regulations, which require additional certification from stablecoin issuers and cryptocurrency providers. Notably, Tether (USDT) which contributes to the vast majority of stablecoin trading volume has not yet been licensed under the EU’s Market in Crypto-Assets Regulation regime.
However, in July, Circle became the first stablecoin issuer to receive a French license for USDC and EURC. It gives hope to other providers to benefit from a regulated environment. Thus, Suren Hayriyan, the president of Next Generation believes that “The rules have made the segment predictable, transparent, and attractive to users, professional players, and investors.”
