TRX Flips ETH: Tron Now Dominates USDT Supply With $80B Milestone

Tron just pulled off a stunner—dethroning Ethereum as the king of USDT stablecoin issuance. The $80B supply landmark isn’t just a number; it’s a middle finger to gas fees and a love letter to arbitrage traders.

How’d they do it? Three words: Cheaper, faster, shinier. While Ethereum’s Layer 2 band-aids struggle to keep up, Tron’s barebones efficiency became the go-to for stablecoin casinos—sorry, ‘legitimate cross-border payments.’

The kicker? This isn’t DeFi’s utopian dream. It’s a pragmatic (if slightly sketchy) win for a chain that treats decentralization like an optional side salad. But hey, when you’re moving billions, ideology takes a backseat to liquidity.

From Underdog to Market Leader

This remarkable growth didn’t happen overnight. In 2020, TRON hosted approximately $6.7 billion worth of USDT. By the end of 2021, that number had climbed to $39.4 billion—a staggering 487% increase in just a year.

Fast forward to 2025, Tron has added more than $20 billion in USDT supply since the start of the year, growing from $59.7 billion in January to $80.76 billion in June. It surpassed Ethereum’s USDT total of $72.5 billion back in November 2024, ending Ethereum’s three-year reign as the top blockchain for Tether.

This trend highlights a major shift in blockchain usage patterns, especially in the realm of payments, remittances, and exchange activity.

Why Tron Is Winning the Stablecoin Race

Ethereum is still the king of DeFi ecosystems, with a broader array of smart contracts, dApps, and tokenized assets. However, when it comes to USDT transactions, tron has taken the lead due to faster transaction speeds and significantly lower gas fees.

These advantages have made Tron the preferred option for many users and exchanges, especially in high-frequency use cases like:

• Centralized exchange withdrawals

• Remittances in emerging markets

• Peer-to-peer payments

• On-chain arbitrage

Ethereum’s average transaction fee often remains in the multi-dollar range, while Tron’s fees usually hover NEAR zero, making it a far more cost-effective solution for everyday stablecoin transfers.

Tether Backs Tron with $2 Billion Mint

The shift isn’t just being driven by users — Tether itself is now allocating more capital to Tron. Recently, the Tether Treasury minted $2 billion in USDT exclusively on the Tron network. No such minting occurred on Ethereum or any other blockchain during this round.

This MOVE signals institutional confidence in Tron’s infrastructure. The minting was followed by a surge of stablecoin inflows into centralized exchanges like HTX Global, which saw $1.24 billion in deposits within hours—hinting at possible market preparations for a bullish rally.

Active Wallet Metrics Show a Clear Winner

Perhaps the most compelling indicator of Tron’s dominance is user activity.

In the last seven days alone:

• Tron saw over 730,000 active USDT wallets

• Ethereum, by comparison, had just 79,000 active USDT addresses

This nearly 10x difference underscores a growing preference among retail and institutional users alike to conduct stablecoin transactions on Tron, further distancing it from competitors.

Other Chains Still Lagging Behind

While other blockchain networks such as Solana, Aptos, and TON continue to gain traction, their USDT circulation volumes remain modest:

• Solana: $1.81 billion

• Aptos: $795 million

• TON: $563 million

These figures highlight just how far ahead Tron and Ethereum are in the stablecoin race. But only Tron has continued its parabolic growth.

Implications for the Broader Crypto Ecosystem

Tron’s dominance in USDT supply and usage has major implications:

• For Exchanges: Tron is now the go-to option for quick and cheap stablecoin transfers, especially in regions with limited access to traditional banking.

• For Users: Lower costs and faster speeds make stablecoin usage more practical and widespread.

• For Developers: As stablecoin utility expands, platforms may look to build on Tron for use cases involving payments, liquidity farming, and cross-border transactions.

Final Thoughts

Tron is no longer just a competitor in the stablecoin ecosystem — it is the industry leader when it comes to USDT circulation, adoption, and daily usage. By focusing on what matters most to users—speed and affordability—Tron has outpaced Ethereum in a critical segment of the crypto market.

While Ethereum continues to dominate DeFi innovation, Tron has become the preferred backbone for stablecoin-based financial infrastructure, showing that sometimes utility beats complexity.

As USDT continues to solidify its role as the world’s most used stablecoin, Tron’s growing market share could signal the next phase of stablecoin-powered mass adoption in crypto.