Tether has minted an additional $1 billion of USDT tokens on the Tron blockchain, pushing the network’s authorized stablecoin supply beyond Ethereum’s for the first time since November 2024. Blockchain data confirmed the substantial mint on May 15, which effectively tips the scales in the ongoing battle for stablecoin dominance between the two networks. Prior to this issuance, Tether’s transparency page showed Tron with $73.7 billion in authorized USDT compared to Ethereum’s $74.5 billion. With the addition of the newly minted tokens, Tron has now surpassed Ethereum in both authorized and circulating USDT supply, with Tron already leading in circulation at $73.6 billion versus Ethereum’s $71.8 billion before the latest mint.
The strategic $1 billion issuance aligns with Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino’s previous explanations that such mints serve to replenish the company’s token inventory across blockchain networks. Similar to traditional inventory management, these pre-emptive mints ensure Tether maintains sufficient liquidity to meet future issuance requests and facilitate chain swaps. The authorized supply on a particular network effectively signals where Tether anticipates growing demand for its stablecoin, suggesting the company foresees continued strong adoption on the Tron network. This latest development represents another chapter in the ongoing competition between Ethereum and Tron, which have been trading the top position since mid-2022, with an $18 billion USDT mint on Ethereum briefly pushing that network ahead in early 2025.
Tether’s overall market dominance continues to strengthen, with its total circulation reaching an all-time high of $150 billion—representing a 9.4% increase since the beginning of 2025. This impressive growth has secured the stablecoin issuer a commanding 61% share of the USD stablecoin market. While Solana and Avalanche hold the third and fourth positions for USDT supply with $2.3 billion and $1.8 billion authorized respectively, they remain far behind the two leading networks. Circle, Tether’s closest competitor in the stablecoin space, controls 24.6% of the market with $60.4 billion in circulation, less than half of Tether’s dominance. As blockchain networks continue competing for stablecoin activity, these large-scale mints reflect the strategic importance major platforms place on capturing USDT transactions and liquidity.
