Tether published its USDt (USDT) Q4 2025 Market Report on Feb. 4, 2026, claiming the stablecoin reached a $187.3 billion market cap and posted multiple “all-time highs” in on-chain activity during the quarter. The company also pointed to $192.9 billion in total reserves and $6.3 billion in net equity (assets greater than liabilities) as of Q4.
The report argues USDT kept growing even as the broader stablecoin ecosystem cooled after a crypto liquidation cascade on Oct. 10, 2025, which it says coincided with a sharp drawdown in total crypto market cap through Feb. 1, 2026.
The headline numbers (and what they’re meant to signal)
Tether’s top-line message is: USDT didn’t just grow — it stayed busy.
In Q4 2025, Tether says USDT’s market cap rose $12.4B to $187.3B, with growth slowing after Oct. 10. It estimates total USDT users climbed 35.2M in the quarter to 534.5M, marking the eighth straight quarter adding more than 30M users.
On-chain, the report claims a record jump in wallets holding USDT: +14.7M in Q4 to 139.1M total, and says USDT wallets represented 70.7% of all wallets holding stablecoins. Monthly active on-chain users averaged 24.8M during the quarter, also described as an all-time high.
Then there’s the transaction firehose. Tether says the USD value transferred on-chain in USDT rose $248.6B in Q4 to $4.4T (a record), while the number of on-chain transfers increased 313.1M to 2.2B, also a record.
What changed after Oct. 10 — and why Tether thinks it matters
Tether pins a noticeable slowdown in stablecoin growth to a “liquidation cascade” on Oct. 10, 2025. It says total crypto market cap declined by more than one-third between Oct. 10, 2025 and Feb. 1, 2026. Against that backdrop, Tether claims USDT still grew 3.5% over the same period, while the “second and third largest stablecoins” declined 2.6% and 57% respectively (the report doesn’t name them in the visible text).
The framing: USDT demand isn’t just traders recycling liquidity — it’s also “store of wealth” and everyday transfer use cases that persist even when the market mood turns defensive.
Reserves: Treasuries up, plus bitcoin and gold
On reserves, Tether says total reserves increased $11.7B in Q4 to $192.9B, resulting in $6.3B of net equity. It also reports holdings of 96,184 bitcoin (up 9,850 BTC in Q4) and 127.5 metric tons of gold (up 21.9 metric tons in Q4).
For U.S. Treasuries, Tether says its total exposure rose $6.5B in Q4 to $141.6B. It also makes two comparative claims: that this would make it the “18th largest holder” of U.S. Treasuries “if Tether was a country,” and that it added $28.2B of U.S. Treasuries in 2025, calling it the “7th largest buyer” over the last 12 months “compared to countries.”
Where USDT sits — exchanges, savers, and senders
Tether’s breakdown of where USDT is held tries to show a balance between “sticky” holders and transactional flow:
- 36% held on centralized exchanges (CEXs) at Q4 close, up 2.8 percentage points vs Q3.
- DEXs & DeFi holdings fell by $3B in Q4 to $7.1B (a 3.8% share of USDT), which the report ties to post-Oct. 10 risk reduction.
- 33% held by “savers” (including 17.4% by “100% savers”), with savers adding $2.9B in Q4 to reach $62.1B.
- 26.5% held by “senders,” who added $2.2B in Q4.
On market activity off-chain, it says spot trading volumes for USDT on centralized exchanges totaled $3.2T in Q4 (down 5.9% vs Q3), but that USDT’s share of overall spot volumes increased 1.5 percentage points to 61.5%. It also cites 14.1B spot trades in USDT in Q4, representing 80% of all spot trades that quarter.
Why it matters for crypto
- Stablecoin market leadership: Tether is using Q4 metrics to argue USDT remained the dominant stablecoin for both holding and transferring value, even as growth slowed after Oct. 10.
- Market plumbing: Record on-chain transfer value ($4.4T) and transfer count (2.2B) underscore how much settlement activity still routes through USDT.
- Risk sentiment signal: The report links slower growth to the Oct. 10 liquidation cascade and broader market drawdown through Feb. 1, 2026—suggesting stablecoin flows remain tightly connected to macro market stress periods.
- Reserve narrative: Tether is emphasizing reserves expansion and large Treasury exposure as part of a “trust” message for a market where confidence and liquidity matter.
What to watch next
- Whether Tether updates these market metrics in future quarters, especially if post-Oct. 10 stablecoin growth re-accelerates.
- Follow-through on the report’s claim that non-trading use cases are driving growth (savers vs senders mix, and active users trend).
- Any further detail from Tether on the “second and third largest stablecoins” comparison it cites (down 2.6% and 57%).
What we don’t know yet
- Which stablecoins Tether is referring to as the “second and third largest” in the comparison since Oct. 10, 2025.
- The exact methodology behind some estimates (for example, how centralized-service users are estimated within the 534.5M total).
Source: Tether — “USDt Q4 2025 Market Report”