The stablecoin sector has lost approximately $8 billion in market capitalization amid ongoing market volatility, signaling tightening liquidity reserves. Despite this contraction, major stablecoin issuers including Tether and Circle are strategically positioning themselves for future demand growth.
The stablecoin sector has lost roughly $8 billion from its market cap amid ongoing market volatility. This suggests liquidity reserves, or “dry powder,” are tightening as risk appetite falls.
Tether‘s U.S. arm CEO Bo Hines revealed plans to push the firm into the top 10 U.S. Treasury holders. This is notable as over 83% of Tether’s reserves are in T-bills, a key revenue source.
Concurrently, Circle has been minting USDC on the Solana network. Analysts see this as a strategic step toward turning the network into a Visa-scale settlement layer.
Following a similar path, Ripple‘s RLUSD stablecoin is also gaining momentum. While Tether’s USDT is down 1.5%, RLUSD has rallied by 14% recently.
RLUSD’s market cap reached a record high of $1.5 billion in the first two months of 2026. This builds on the token’s 2,300% rally in 2025.
According to Token Terminal, RLUSD supply on the Ethereum network has grown to $1.2 billion. This marks roughly a tenfold increase year-over-year.
Binance has completed the integration of RLUSD on the XRP Ledger, boosting its accessibility. Taken together, these moves show Ripple is expanding RLUSD’s reach across multiple blockchains.
