Tether flexed its minting muscles once again, pumping out a massive $2 billion in USDT on July 16, 2025. Half of the freshly minted stablecoins went straight to Binance, while the other billion settled comfortably on Ethereum for swaps and cross-chain activities. The move pushed Tether‘s total supply to a whopping $160.26 billion – because apparently, that’s just how they roll these days.
Another day, another billion-dollar USDT mint from Tether, splitting the spoils between Binance and Ethereum like crypto’s ultimate power move.
The timing couldn’t be more interesting, with Bitcoin casually hanging out at $120,000 and the GENIUS Act looming over the crypto industry like a regulatory storm cloud. When Tether mints, markets move – that’s just crypto 101. And boy, have they been minting. Arkham Intelligence data shows institutional demand driving the record token issuance. The stablecoin giant has been on an absolute tear, ballooning from $118.4 billion last August to its current astronomical levels.
The numbers are kind of ridiculous when you think about it. Since 2020, Tether’s market cap has shot up 34 times, from a modest $4.7 billion to its current $160 billion behemoth status. Monthly on-chain volume? Try $1.1 trillion. That’s trillion with a T. User base? A casual 450 million people, up from just 2.8 million in 2020. The company maintains full backing through $127 billion in securities and various financial instruments. These reserves undergo regular audits to ensure stability and maintain investor confidence.
But it’s not just about the numbers. USDT has become the go-to inflation hedge in places like Nigeria, Argentina, and Turkey, where local currencies are about as stable as a jenga tower in an earthquake. It’s also become the gateway drug to DeFi for millions of users worldwide.
Meanwhile, regulators are watching this whole show with raised eyebrows. The GENIUS Act could change everything about how stablecoins operate in the US, and Tether’s latest mint comes just as lawmakers are sharpening their pencils.
But Tether seems unfazed, continuing its aggressive expansion strategy while maintaining its iron grip on stablecoin market dominance. Whether this confidence is warranted or just bravado, well, that’s anyone’s guess.
