As a researcher who has spent countless hours delving into the intricacies of digital assets, I find it fascinating to observe the meteoric rise of USDT. The sheer scale of its adoption, particularly in emerging markets, is nothing short of astonishing. It’s like watching a tidal wave of change sweeping across the financial landscape, leaving traditional methods in its wake.

In the final quarter of 2024, USDT (Tether) became a dominant digital currency, as over 109 million individual wallets held it. This figure surpassed the number of wallets for Bitcoin by more than double and was approaching the 128 million wallets that owned Ethereum.

Beyond on-chain activity, 86 million accounts on centralized platforms have received USDT deposits.

USDT’s Dominance

As per the second edition of ‘Tether Insights,’ it was disclosed by the stablecoin issuer that during the first three quarters of 2024, exchanges received approximately 4.5 billion visits through their websites. Nearly half of these visits originated from developing markets, where users often rely solely on USDT within the platform’s ecosystems for transactions.

Approximately one-third to half of the approximately 330 million individuals who have previously engaged with Tether (USDT) may still be in possession of it now, according to analysts who consider both on-chain and centralized platform activities.

As a researcher, I’ve observed that USDT wallets frequently exhibit signs of renewed activity when users receive fresh funds, especially for regular payments. Interestingly, approximately one-third (29%) of wallets containing less than a penny’s worth of USDT have been reactivated in the past. Currently, more than half of the existing USDT wallets hold balances lower than a penny, which is common in digital asset wallets. However, due to the nature of transactions and payments, it’s expected that many of these wallets will become active again in the future.

By bringing together approximately 109 million currently active wallets and an estimated additional 56 million that could potentially be activated again, we end up with a grand total of around 165 million USDT wallets. It’s important to note that this count does not include the tens of millions of accounts on centralized platforms.

Approximately 18.7 million digital wallets worldwide contain small amounts (ranging from one cent to one dollar) of Tether (USDT). Although this amount may seem insignificant in wealthier countries, Tether asserts that it can have a substantial impact for individuals in developing economies. Many users predominantly utilize USDT for transactions rather than savings. The World Bank reports that approximately 4.5 billion people, or about 59% of the global population, live on less than $10 per day.

It’s significant that a large number of individuals who might not have had access to traditional banking can now utilize USDT, showcasing the crucial role that stablecoins play in fostering economic growth.

USDT Wallets Tower Over Other Stablecoins

USDT remains the leader in the realm of stablecoins, boasting four times as many active wallets compared to its rivals. As of November 1st, a staggering 54 million wallets with more than one cent balance were associated with USDT, significantly outnumbering the 13.8 million wallets containing other stablecoins. This data was gathered from an analysis of 25 different stablecoins functioning on ten distinct blockchains, representing approximately 97.5% of the entire stablecoin market.

Moreover, USDT has seen remarkable expansion in wallet usage as well. In 2023 alone, there was a 71% rise, and the year before that saw an even more significant jump of 129%. This surge can largely be attributed to an increase in smaller wallets holding less than $1,000, indicating a trend towards self-custody as a response to the major fall of FTX.

Despite financial upheavals such as the de-peg incidents of USDC and DAI during the Silicon Valley Bank crisis, the usage of this digital coin remained robust. On the other hand, while the user base for USDT continues to grow significantly, many other stablecoins have made only modest advancements. In fact, over the past year, the number of wallet holders for 24 alternative stablecoins has increased by just 3%.

On networks such as Solana and Binance Smart Chain (Base), USD Coin (USDC) has been making strides, but it’s important to note that USDT (Tether) still dominates with more than 30% of the wallet ownership on Solana.

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2024-12-10 18:24