Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said USDT’s largest single sender accounted for 4.97% of total transfer volume. He compared that figure with other stablecoins, citing data from Chainalysis and Artemis for the 12 months ending Jan. 31, 2026, which showed sender concentration in other stablecoins at 23.34%.
USDT transfer flow appears less concentrated
Ardoino used the numbers to argue that USDT has a more distributed transaction structure. In his comparison, nearly a quarter of send volume in other stablecoins is handled by one entity, while USDT’s largest sender remains below the 5% mark. He presented that gap as a sign that USDT activity is driven more by smaller transactions than by a narrow group of large financial players.
His point was straightforward. Lower concentration, in his view, reduces concentration risk and limits the influence any single participant can have on overall liquidity and price stability. USDT’s flow, as he described it, comes from a broader base of senders and a wider mix of transaction sizes.
Remittances and daily payments remain central use cases
Ardoino said USDT supports more than 550 million users globally, serving remittances, payments, and access to financial services. He described USDT as “the digital dollar made for the people” and tied its usage to individuals and families in emerging markets, where banking infrastructure can be limited and financial services often come with higher costs.
He said USDT volume is shaped by cross-border remittances, local business payments, and small everyday transfers. That framing places the stablecoin less as a tool dominated by large institutions and more as a payment rail used by ordinary users across multiple markets.
Analysts say one metric does not capture the full picture
Skeptics noted that a single on-chain metric cannot fully capture custody arrangements, off-chain settlements, or exchange-managed wallets. Analysts also cautioned that large wallets may represent many smaller users, which can make raw address-level data an imperfect proxy for retail activity.
Even with those limits, Ardoino presented the chart as evidence of broad USDT usage. His comments tied transaction distribution to real-world financial access, with a focus on international remittances and day-to-day payments rather than volume concentrated in a small number of large actors.