Tether USDT Surpasses $150 Billion, Outpaces Visa, PayPal in Weekly Transfer Volumes

Tether USD (USDT) has surpassed $150 billion in circulating supply, marking a significant milestone in the stablecoin market. This achievement comes as stablecoins continue to outpace traditional payment giants such as Visa and PayPal in terms of weekly transfer volumes. In 2025, stablecoins averaged over $521 billion in weekly transfer volumes, a figure that dwarfs the combined weekly volumes of Visa and PayPal, which were $319 billion and $32 billion, respectively.

Tether, the issuer of USDT, attributes this growth to the global demand for USDT from over 400 million users. The stablecoin now represents 63% of the total stablecoin supply, amounting to nearly $238 billion as of May 12. This dominance is further highlighted by the growing volumes of stablecoin transactions. For instance, during the week of Jan. 20, stablecoins processed approximately $654.9 billion, exceeding the combined Visa and PayPal volume of $351.2 billion by more than $303.7 billion. Other weeks with large spreads included Jan. 13 ($282.1 billion), Jan. 6 ($278.9 billion), Jan. 27 ($266.3 billion), and Feb. 3 ($242.5 billion), demonstrating a consistent margin of leadership during the start of the year.

On average, stablecoins moved $521.3 billion in weekly value throughout 2025, surpassing Visa by 63% and outpacing PayPal by over 1,500%. This momentum is further boosted by traditional financial companies' recent push into the stablecoin sector, driven by expectations of a friendlier regulatory environment under President Donald Trump’s administration.

This strong performance comes after stablecoins reached $24.6 trillion in transfer volume last year, surpassing Visa and Mastercard combined volumes by 7.7%. Traditional payment giants are quickly adapting to this new reality and contributing to these developments. Visa announced a platform to help banks tokenize fiat currencies in October 2024, resulting in more stablecoins. Moreover, the payment firm recently launched stablecoin-powered cards in Latin America. Meanwhile, Mastercard reported to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) the tokenization of 30% of its 2024 transactions. Like Visa, Mastercard also announced a card that allows users to make payments with stablecoins.

PayPal launched its stablecoin, the PayPal USD (PYUSD), in August 2023. After surpassing $1 billion in circulating supply in August 2024, PYUSD’s market cap slowly slid below $450 million in December of the same year. However, PYUSD adoption recently picked up, climbing 95% since February to nearly $930 million as of May 12. This resurgence indicates that even traditional payment giants are recognizing the potential of stablecoins in the financial landscape.