Tether Hits Record High, But Is USDT’s Depegging Imminent?

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Tether Hits ATH in Circulating Supply, but Is USDT Depegging Imminent?

Tether, the biggest stablecoin, has reached a new record for the total amount in circulation. As of the end of 2025, the value of USDT, which is designed to match the US dollar, hit $187.3 billion. This growth is especially significant because the overall cryptocurrency market has been struggling since a downturn in October, and some are wondering if the stablecoin could lose its connection to the dollar.

Tether Records Multiple Milestones

Despite the rise of competing stablecoins, this particular coin has maintained its position. A significant sell-off in the crypto market occurred on October 10th, largely due to discussions surrounding the trade tensions between the US and China.

Following this development, the value of Circle’s USDC – the second-largest stablecoin – experienced some ups and downs for the remainder of the quarter, but ultimately ended the period relatively stable. Meanwhile, USDe, a synthetic dollar created by Ethena and ranked third among stablecoins by CoinMarketCap, lost 57% of its value.

Unlike its competitors, Tether (USDT) saw a significant increase in usage, with an average of 24.8 million active wallets each month. This means 70% of all stablecoin wallets were holding USDT. Over the quarter, the value of USDT transferred on the blockchain reached $4.4 trillion, with a total of 2.2 billion transactions.

At the end of 2025, Tether held total reserves of $192.9 billion, a significant jump from $11.7 billion in the previous quarter. The company’s net equity was approximately $6.3 billion.

USDT Unpegging Raises Questions

Recent reports are raising concerns that the stablecoin USDT could lose its 1-to-1 value with the US dollar. It recently dipped to $0.9980, its lowest point in over five years, suggesting a potential ‘de-pegging’ event.

Red alert ‼️ if there is further unpegging

— bill morgan (@Belisarius2020) February 5, 2026

From where I’m sitting, there’s a growing sense that USDT could become fully untethered from the dollar soon. If that happens, I anticipate negative consequences for the entire crypto market. The reason is that a huge amount – over 87% – of all crypto trading relies on USDT, so any instability there would likely cause a significant downturn.

In late 2025, USDT was officially approved as an Accepted Fiat-Referenced Token (AFRT) by Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). This approval allows the stablecoin to be used on several different blockchains, such as Aptos, Celo, Cosmos, Kaia, Near, Polkadot, Tezos, TON, and TRON.

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2026-02-05 17:51