ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood said USDT and USDC continue to lead the stablecoin sector as the market approaches $308 billion. She described stablecoins as monetary networks rather than simple digital assets, arguing that their strength grows as adoption spreads across users, businesses, and financial platforms.
Wood pointed to research from ARK Invest Digital Assets Lead Lorenzo Valente, saying that rising competition does not automatically mean new issuers can overtake the incumbents. In her view, every additional user, merchant relationship, and platform integration adds to the network effects already enjoyed by the largest stablecoins.
Liquidity and distribution remain the main edge
ARK’s assessment centers on the practical advantages held by USDT and USDC in trading, payments, and DeFi. Broad acceptance matters. Deep liquidity matters too. Together, those factors raise the barrier for any newcomer trying to build meaningful share in the market.
Wood also highlighted trust, collateral structure, and integration with financial platforms as the key reasons the two tokens remain at the center of the sector. That combination is difficult to reproduce quickly. A new stablecoin may launch with a clear strategy, but matching established distribution and market depth is a different challenge.
Open USD enters with an institutional pitch
Competition is still building as crypto-native firms and traditional financial institutions expand their stablecoin efforts. One of the newer projects is Open Standard, which launched Open USD under the leadership of Zach Abrams, a co-founder of Stripe’s Bridge.
The project is organized as a consortium, with multiple companies participating in the structure. According to the report, Open USD aims to remove issuance and redemption fees, distribute most reserve income to participants, and operate under an independent governance model. It has reportedly attracted backing from more than 140 companies.
Questions emerge over the supporter list
That backing has also faced scrutiny. Samsung Electronics, Shinhan Financial Group, and other companies in South Korea said that although they appeared on the supporter list, they had not formally committed to joining the consortium. The episode raised fresh questions about how institutional support is presented in emerging stablecoin projects.
Even with new entrants pursuing partnerships, acquisitions, and infrastructure builds, ARK maintains that established issuers are still in the strongest position. Large user bases, deep liquidity, and extensive integration across the crypto market continue to reinforce the lead held by USDT and USDC.