Tether Just Minted $1B on Tron – Is This Ethereum’s Kodak Moment?

Tron flexes its muscles as USDT’s latest billion-dollar playground—while Ethereum watches from the sidelines. Again.

Cheaper fees? Faster transactions? Traders vote with their stablecoins, and right now, they’re picking the chain that won’t nickel-and-dime them into oblivion.

Ethereum maximalists scoff, but the numbers don’t lie: Tron’s USDT supply is eating ETH’s lunch. Will Layer 2 bandaits fix the bleed—or is this the start of a flippening Wall Street won’t even notice until their algo trades fail?

Source: Arkham

Is stablecoin momentum shifting away from Ethereum?

After years of Ethereum dominance, the latest data shows Tron is rapidly catching up in total USDT supply, and may be on the verge of overtaking.

As of May 2025, Ethereum hosts approximately $74.5 billion in USDT, but Tron is nearly neck-and-neck, just a fraction below.

Source: CryptoQuant

The chart reveals Tron’s relentless rise since early 2022, steadily eating into Ethereum’s lead. Ethereum’s USDT supply, by contrast, has plateaued and even dipped slightly in recent months.

With Tether’s latest $1 billion mint on Tron, the network appears poised to finally flip Ethereum in the stablecoin hierarchy.

Tron: 9 million and counting

Tron’s transaction trend is accelerating!

Source: TronScan

Over the past year, daily transaction counts have increased steadily, rising from around 6 million to consistently exceeding nine million, with occasional spikes nearing eleven million.

Since January 2025, this growth has accelerated, indicating rising utility and adoption.

This sustained high volume reinforces TRX’s position as the leading network for stablecoin transactions, particularly for USDT transfers.

Is Ethereum losing the stablecoin race?

Ethereum’s high gas fees are creating a competitive disadvantage for the network.

For stablecoin issuers like Tether and everyday users, the cost of minting, transferring, and interacting with USDT on Ethereum remains much higher than on Tron.

As a result, issuers are choosing cheaper networks, and users are following liquidity and efficiency.

Unless Ethereum significantly improves scalability and reduces costs beyond Layer 2 solutions, it risks being overtaken by faster, more affordable alternatives.