According to Cointelegraph, Tether, the company behind the USDT stablecoin, announced on October 7 that it had surpassed 350 million users, just 10 years after its launch in 2014. The stablecoin issuer reported a 24% increase in user count over the past 12 months, indicating that it had approximately 282 million users in October 2023. In 2022, Tether had around 141 million users, showing significant growth in a short period.
While Tether is not the first stablecoin—BitUSD and NuBits hold that distinction—it currently has the highest market capitalization among all stablecoins. According to CoinMarketCap, Tether's market capitalization stands at $119.6 billion. Tether's substantial holdings of U.S. Treasuries further strengthen the dollar's global influence, solidifying USD₮ as a trusted digital representation of the world's reserve currency. As of its Q2 2024 Attestation, Tether had direct and indirect exposure to over $97 billion in U.S. Treasuries, making it one of the top 20 largest buyers of U.S. Treasury bills, surpassing countries like Germany, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia.
Cointelegraph also reported that Tether is celebrating its 10th anniversary and will soon launch a documentary about its journey over the past decade, featuring interviews with people whose lives have been affected by the stablecoin. The majority of Tether's 350 million users appear to have joined in the past few years, indicating accelerating adoption rates. To put this milestone into perspective, a AAA study from 2024 estimated there are more than 560 million cryptocurrency users worldwide, while the 2023 AAA report showed around 420 million users globally.