From Tether to the Trump-Backed USD1: The 7 Fastest-Moving Stablecoins of 2025
In brief
The stablecoin supply jumped $100 billion to a total of $314 billion in 2025.
Tether leads in transaction activity, followed by Ripple's RLUSD and Circle's USDC.
The Trump-backed USD1 reached the top 5 just months after April launch.
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This was a defining year for stablecoins, with the signing of the GENIUS Act, a high-flying IPO for Circle, and a handful of tokens outpacing the rest.
Since the start of January, the overall U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoin supply has increased by more than $100 billion, to $314 billion total. But that doesn’t mean all boats have risen at the same rate.
To measure stablecoin performance, Decrypt calculated velocity using historical data from crypto price aggregator CoinGecko from January through December 15. Velocity divides total volume by average supply, resulting in a calculation of how many times each coin has, on average, changed hands.
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As former Commodities and Futures Trading Commission Chairman Timothy Massad explained to Decrypt, measuring velocity beats rankings that rely only on total supply.
“Stablecoins can be very useful without there being a large market cap,” he said. “In other words, it's really the velocity, the transaction use, and they can circulate very quickly even if the amount outstanding is not that great.”
Tether (USDT)
Tether tops the list with a velocity of 166 because it’s long been a workhorse for global crypto trading. It can’t claim the crown as the first-ever stablecoin—that belongs to BitUSD. But it launched the same year, in 2014, and became the first widely used one.
Tether boasts a market capitalization of $186 billion after increasing 35% since the start of the year, according to CoinGecko data. The bulk of Tether tokens get traded on Ethereum (46.3%) and Tron (41.4%), according to DeFi Llama data.
Tether began the year by relocating to Bitcoin-friendly El Salvador, where President Nayib Bukele declared BTC legal tender in 2021. There have been a few bumps, though. In March, Binance said it would delist USDT for European Union users to stay compliant with MiCA regulations, which require stablecoin issuers to be licensed.
But that’s not stopped the company from turning a hefty profit. So far in 2025, Tether has seen $10 billion in profit in the first three quarters of the year, the company said in October.
Ripple USD (RLUSD)
Ripple Labs’ stablecoin, RLUSD, swiped the second spot with a velocity of 71. That means, on average, every RLUSD token has changed hands 71 times since the start of the year.
In most stablecoin lineups, Circle’s USDC would hold this spot because its $78 billion market capitalization trumps that of RLUSD’s $1.3 billion. But as Massad pointed out, stablecoin performance has more to do with being able to move money efficiently than its total supply.
Ripple was provisionally approved for a national banking charter by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, or OCC, in December. “This is a massive step forward—first for RLUSD— setting the highest standard for stablecoin compliance with both federal (OCC) state (NYDFS) oversight,” Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse wrote on X.
HUGE news! @Ripple just received conditional approval from the @USOCC to charter Ripple National Trust Bank. This is a massive step forward - first for $RLUSD, setting the highest standard for stablecoin compliance with both federal (OCC) state (NYDFS) oversight.
To the…
— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) December 12, 2025
Ripple Senior Vice President of Stablecoins Jack McDonald has often pointed out that RLUSD was specifically designed for institutional use.
At the start of December, Ripple got the green light from the Singapore Monetary Authority, or MAS, to expand XRP and RLUSD payments in Singapore. And earlier this year, RLUSD was integrated into Securitize's tokenization platform. That means it’s one of the assets investors can swap for tokenized money market funds.
Circle (USDC)
USDC saw its velocity reach 56 in 2025, while its market capitalization climbed 78% to $78.4 billion by December 15.
Perhaps more than any of its competitors, Circle benefitted massively from the passage of the GENIUS Act. Its operating model already resembled the federally regulated framework that’s now become U.S. law. That’s given Circle a head start on compliance and investor confidence—and investors took note.
CRCL was so popular with investors on its debut that the NYSE halted trading three times. Since then, Circle has reported $740 million in Q3 revenue, marking a 66% year-over-year increase. Circle has also rolled out the testnet for Arc, its layer-1 blockchain, which counts BlackRock, Visa, and Amazon Web Services as early participants.
Circle was also one of several stablecoin issuers—including Ripple, Paxos and BitGo—which got a provisional approval for its national banking charter and will be looking to expand into broader financial services.
USD1 (USD1)
USD1 is an outlier because it launched in April, and therefore doesn’t have nearly a full year’s worth of data. But that didn’t stop it from landing right next to the podium with a velocity of 39.
Issued by World Liberty Financial—the crypto-focused firm co-founded by Donald Trump Jr. and partners—USD1 was designed from the outset to be a highly liquid transactional stablecoin. The token reached a $1 billion market cap in April, less than a month after its launch, according to data from CoinGecko.
There have been some very bullish predictions about its growth. Blockstreet’s Kyle Klemmer told Decrypt he believes USD1 will be the world’s dominant stablecoin, beating USDT and USDC, before President Donald Trump’s second term ends in 2029.
The project has leaned heavily on retail distribution and promotional partnerships, including integrations with several U.S.-based crypto exchanges, like Coinbase and FalconX, and it’s making a bid to become “Solana’s go-to stablecoin” by teaming up with meme coin platform Bonk and decentralized exchange Raydium.
PayPal USD (PYUSD)
PayPal USD’s velocity of 18 lands it in fifth place on this list.
Its 2023 debut made big waves because it was the first time an established payments platform made a bid at issuing a stablecoin—years before there was a regulatory framework in the U.S..
For most of this year, growth for PYUSD moved at a modest pace. Its market capitalization peaked above $1 billion in June and then established a foothold in September. Since then, it’s nearly tripled to $3.8 billion as of December 15.
PayPal has teamed with LayerZero to expand the token’s presence to nine new blockchains, including Tron, Abstract, Aptos, and Avalanche. But there’s also been some controversy.
In October, observers noted that PYUSD issuer Paxos minted and then immediately burned $300 trillion worth of tokens. It’s an impossibly large number of tokens, given it represents more than twice the world’s GDP.
At 3:12 PM EST, Paxos mistakenly minted excess PYUSD as part of an internal transfer. Paxos immediately identified the error and burned the excess PYUSD.
This was an internal technical error. There is no security breach. Customer funds are safe. We have addressed the root…
— Paxos (@Paxos) October 15, 2025
"This was an internal technical error. There is no security breach,” the firm wrote on X. “Customer funds are safe. We have addressed the root cause."
USDe (USDe)
Ethena Labs’ USDe demonstrated a velocity of 11 in 2025, with its market capitalization showing a modest gain of 11% from $5.8 billion in January to $6.5 billion by December 15.
But that trajectory leaves out the fact that its market cap soared to nearly $15 billion before the early October flash crash.
USDe is the only stablecoin on this list that isn’t backed by fiat currency: It’s backed by a delta-neutral strategy involving staked Ethereum and perpetual futures hedges. But its reliance on derivatives means that times of high volatility and shifts in sentiment can cause big swings in market capitalization.
Even with a less straightforward structure, the token’s advocates include billionaire Arthur Hayes. But not all regulators are convinced. Ethena Labs pulled out of the German market in April over growing scrutiny over its “serious deficiencies” in compliance.
USDS (USDS)
Sky’s USDS showed extremely low velocity of 1 in 2025—and that’s by design. To avoid confusion: Sky is a rebrand of DeFi OG MakerDAO and USDS is a rebrand of its DAI stablecoin.
Unlike USDT or USDC, which function as transactional stablecoins, most USDS tokens sit locked in Maker vaults or savings contracts as collateral for DeFi loans rather than circulating. Its role in DeFi is closer to a yield-bearing savings instrument than digital cash, so it naturally turns over far less often.
For example, the Sky Protocol currently offers a 4% rewards rate (paid in SKY tokens) to users who hold USDS. As of 2025, USDS has seen its market capitalization grow from $5.2 billion at the start of the year to $9.8 billion, marking an 85% increase in just under 12 months.
Market Strategist to XRP Holders: XRP Is Built for This
Levi Rietveld, creator of Crypto Crusaders, shared a short video that quickly caught the attention of XRP holders. The clip featured comments from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on financial regulation, capital markets, and payment systems.
In the clip, Bessent spoke about reviewing regulatory impediments to blockchain, stablecoins, and new payment systems. He also discussed reforms aimed at strengthening American capital markets and improving access. Adding to his comments, Rietveld stated that XRP is built to fit that role Bessent described.
$XRP Is Built For This! pic.twitter.com/WNDUoeFPC4
— Levi | Crypto Crusaders (@LeviRietveld) December 22, 2025
A Focus on Removing Regulatory Barriers
Bessent spoke directly about the need to confront outdated rules. “We will take a close look at regulatory impediments to blockchain, stablecoins, and new payment systems,” he said. That statement is crucial for assets built around real-world use cases and payments.
XRP was created to move value quickly, at low cost, and across borders. Regulatory friction has limited adoption in key markets. A push to reassess those barriers signals a shift away from restrictive frameworks that slow innovation.
Bessent also tied reform to market strength. He said policymakers would “consider reforms to unleash the awesome power of the American capital markets.” XRP operates at the intersection of payments and capital flows. A system that clears transactions faster supports deeper liquidity and more efficient settlement.
Stablecoins and Payment Infrastructure
Bessent’s reference to stablecoins and new payment systems also aligns with the XRP ecosystem. Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin is built for regulated payments and settlement, targeting institutional and compliant use cases.
RLUSD settles in seconds on the XRP Ledger with low and predictable fees. As transaction volume grows, network activity increases, and XRP is used for transaction fees, directly linking stablecoin adoption to demand for XRP.
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— TimesTabloid (@TimesTabloid1) June 15, 2025
XRP’s Role in Modern Payments
Bessent discussed reforms aimed at creating a financial services system that works more efficiently and inclusively. In his words, “Americans deserve a financial services industry that works for all Americans.” His comments highlight infrastructure support that enables faster, lower-cost transactions and more accessible financial flows.
That aligns directly with XRP’s design. Transactions settle in seconds, lowering costs for cross-border payments. Small businesses and institutions can move liquidity without multiple intermediaries, reducing friction and improving efficiency. XRP’s infrastructure prioritizes functional utility over novelty, positioning it to handle real-world payment flows at scale.
Disclaimer: This content is meant to inform and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author’s personal opinions and do not represent Times Tabloid’s opinion. Readers are advised to conduct thorough research before making any investment decisions. Any action taken by the reader is strictly at their own risk. Times Tabloid is not responsible for any financial losses.
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Ripple Exec Issues Bullish 2026 Prediction, Shiba Inu (SHIB) Price Defies Negative Trend, XRP Beats Bitcoin in Quantum Resistance — Crypto News Digest
Ripple executive predicts rapid institutional crypto adoption by 2026
SHIB OI surges despite crypto market-wide weakness
XRP Ledger makes first move toward post-quantum security
Ripple executive predicts rapid institutional crypto adoption by 2026
Institutional adoption isexpected to pick up pace by Ripple's Reece Merrick.
Institutional adoption. Ripple Managing Director Reece Merrick said institutional adoption of crypto will accelerate sharply, predicting that by the end of 2026 every major bank, asset manager, and payment network will have meaningful exposure.
Ripple Managing Director Reece Merrick has predicted that institutional adoption is going to accelerate at a rapid pace in 2026.
"By end of 2026, this number will increase and every significant bank, asset manager, and payment network will have meaningful exposure," he said. Merrick is arguing that crypto is no longer an optional asset class, meaning that institutional investors have to embrace it in order to remain competitive.
Traditional finance (TradFi) banks that do not offer crypto services will lose clients to those that do. If a customer cannot hold Bitcoin or stablecoins in their JP Morgan or Chase account, they will move their capital to a fintech competitor (like Coinbase or Revolut).
Regulatory clarity. The GENIUS Act classifies compliant stablecoins, including RLUSD, as permitted payment infrastructure.
For instance, banks were paralyzed because they didn't know if stablecoins would be classified as illegal securities. The GENIUS Act officially classified compliant stablecoins, including RLUSD, as permitted payment infrastructure.
Banks like JPMorgan and Standard Chartered began integrating stablecoin rails directly into their backend. Asset managers also realized that tokenized Treasury bills of the likes of BlackRock's BUIDL could be used as collateral for trading on a round-the-clock basis.
SHIB OI surges despite crypto market-wide weakness
Shiba Inuhas flipped Bitcoin and XRP in futures activity, as its open interest volume shows an impressive 3.42% surge.
OI spike. SHIB futures open interest jumped 3.42% in the last 24 hours, with traders committing 11.03 trillion SHIB to active contracts.
The broad crypto market is down, but the Shiba Inu derivatives market has shown strength, flipping all leading cryptocurrencies, which have continued to see weak futures activity over the last day.
Despite the negative market trend, Shiba Inu has seen its open interest surge notably by 3.42% over the last day, with traders committing a massive 11.03 trillion SHIB to its futures market, according to data from the futures market.
SHIB futures open interest jumped 3.42% in the last 24 hours, with traders committing 11.03 trillion SHIB to active contracts.
Sentiment shift. In dollar terms, more than $80 million worth of SHIB is now tied up in futures positions.
After multiple days of trading negatively, the impressive open interest volume marks a major shift in investor sentiment, as the token has restored hopes with its strong futures activity.
While leading cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and XRP have seen their open interest each plummet by about 2%, Shiba Inu has flipped the leading crypto assets in the key metric, as over $80 million worth of the tokens have been committed in active contracts.
XRP Ledger makes first move toward post-quantum security
XRPL is alreadytesting quantum-resistant transactions on its network, while Bitcoin developers warn a full upgrade could take years.
Post-quantum. The XRP Ledger has taken its first concrete step into the post-quantum era.
The XRP Ledger has taken its first real step into the post-quantum era. Its AlphaNet rolled out Dilithium-based cryptography, which is designed to protect against future attacks from quantum computers that could one day render current digital signatures ineffective.
According to the statement, developers can now create quantum-resistant accounts and execute transactions secured by the new algorithm. This upgrade puts XRP ahead of Bitcoin and most other major blockchains.
BTC challenge. Bitcoin developers have acknowledged that a similar transition would be far more complex.
Bitcoin developers acknowledge that shifting to a similar standard will be a marathon, not a sprint. Casa cofounder Jameson Lopp estimates that adapting the entire Bitcoin network could take at least 5 to 10 years, as every node, wallet and stored coin would require a coordinated migration to new cryptographic rules.
Quantum computing is still in its early stages, but once it has the power to challenge modern encryption, older wallets — including Satoshi Nakamoto’s 1.1 million BTC, worth nearly $98 billion — could be vulnerable. Lopp and others have suggested freezing vulnerable coins to prevent catastrophic breaches.
Five New XRPL Amendments on Way to Transform 2026, What to Watch?
Version 3.0.0 of rippled, the reference server implementation of the XRP Ledger protocol, went live earlier in December, adding new amendments and bug fixes.
Five amendments are included in rippled version 3.0.0, which are "fixPriceOracleOrder," "fixTokenEscrowV1," "fixAMMClawbackRounding," "fixIncludeKeyletFields" and "fixMPTDeliveredAmount," which are currently being voted on.
fixPriceOracleOrder fixes an issue where the order of asset pair data is different when a price oracle is created versus when it is updated. This amendment ensures asset pairs follow a canonical order at all times, so you can predictably look up asset prices.
In rippled version 3.0.0, token escrow fix "fixTokenEscrowV1" is available that addresses a bug discovered in the original amendment.
The amendment "fixTokenEscrowV1" fixes an accounting error in MPT escrows. This amendment ensures that when escrowed MPTs are unlocked, the issuer's locked amount is reduced by the net amount, and the total supply is reduced by the transfer fees.
The "fixAMMClawbackRounding" amendment fixes an accounting error that can occur when performing an AMMClawback transaction on the last LP token holder.
Amendment "fixIncludeKeyletFields" adds fields to ledger entries in cases where those fields are part of the identifying information that forms their ledger entry ID. This amendment adds a sequence field to Escrow and PayChannel entries; an Owner field to SignerList entries and an OracleDocumentID field to Oracle entries.
Amendment "fixMPTDeliveredAmount" adds missing "DeliveredAmount" and "delivered_amount" metadata fields from direct MPT Payment transactions. Without this amendment, direct MPT payments deliver the full amount but do not have the metadata fields to summarize how much was delivered.
2026 teases game-changing updates
The rippled v 3.0.0 release adds other amendments, but these are currently disabled. This includes Lending Protocol, Dynamic MPT and fixDelegateV1_1, all of which are nearly code complete but not yet open for voting.
The XRPL Lending Protocol, a new protocol-native system that enables on-ledger lending for institutions while also allowing XRP holders to earn institutional-grade yield, is underway.
According to Ripple developer Edward Hennis, potential use cases include market makers borrowing XRP/RLUSD for inventory and arbitrage; PSPs borrowing RLUSD to prefund instant merchant payouts and fintech lenders accessing short-duration working capital.
Relevant amendments are expected to enter validator voting in late January 2026, marking a major step toward activating protocol-native credit markets on XRPL.