Tether removed $2.5 billion in USDT from circulation on Ethereum on July 7, the largest supply reduction for the stablecoin since February. After the burn, USDT’s total circulating supply fell to $189.6 billion.
USDT supply remains concentrated on Ethereum and TRON. As of July, the token accounted for $99.98 billion on Ethereum and more than $89 billion on TRON. That still leaves Tether in the leading position by circulating supply across the crypto market.
Stablecoin activity weakens across the market
Data from Artemis showed that active stablecoin addresses dropped 36.2% over the past 30 days. Average daily stablecoin transfer volume fell 47.5% in the same window, while overall stablecoin transfer activity was down 83%. The decline points to softer on-chain usage, not just a reduction in outstanding supply.
USDC, the main competitor to USDT, recorded sharper liquidity outflows over the last month. Even so, total stablecoin supply stayed close to its historical peak and narrowed by only 1% during the period. That suggests the market is seeing limited fresh capital rather than a broad collapse in existing stablecoin balances.
TRON and Binance reserves draw attention
The latest supply cut also sharpened focus on where liquidity is gathering across major networks. July data showed Binance’s USDT reserves on TRON falling to $806 million. At the same time, USDT transfer activity on both Ethereum and TRON slowed during May and June, matching other signs of tighter market liquidity.
Binance’s total stablecoin reserves, however, stayed near $39 billion with no major change over the past month. The picture is mixed: aggregate exchange reserves have held steady, while network-level flows and transactional activity have cooled.
USDT keeps scale advantage as use cases split
Relative to USDT’s overall size, the $2.5 billion burn is modest. Still, regulatory developments in Europe and decisions by some platforms to reduce USDT support have added pressure around the token.
Use cases are also diverging. USDT remains more widely used in commercial payments and peer-to-peer transfers, while USDC is building a larger footprint in DeFi, especially in perpetual trading ecosystems on Base. With stablecoin supply moving sideways rather than expanding quickly, broader digital asset growth appears to be facing a tighter liquidity backdrop.