Stablecoin Issuance Surged Last Year — UST Saw the Largest 12-Month Increase

Stablecoins have become prominent payment rails in the world of cryptocurrencies commanding $177 billion in fiat value today. The top ten stablecoins by market capitalization represent the largest share of the value in the fiat-pegged coin economy and many of these tokens grew exponentially last year. Terra’s UST stablecoin grew the most last year, jumping 5,431% in 2021.

A Deep Dive Into Stablecoin Growth During the Course of 2021

Stablecoins today represent 9.77% of the $1.8 trillion crypto-economy today which is $177 billion in USD value. While many digital assets surged in growth last year, stablecoins also saw their market valuations swell as issuance grew month after month.

Tether (USDT) is the top stablecoin, in terms of market capitalization with $78.3 billion. USDT alone represents 4.32% of the entire crypto economy’s $1.8 trillion and amid the $177 billion stablecoin economy, USDT towers over the pack by 44.24%.

On January 2, 2021, tether (USDT) had a market cap of around $21.2 billion and by January 2, 2022, this grew by 269.81% to $78.4 billion. Usd coin (USDC) once had a market cap of $4.1 billion on January 1, 2021, and approximately 12 months later it grew 936.58% to $42.5 billion.

The third-largest stablecoin binance usd (BUSD) had a market valuation of around $1.07 billion on the first of the year in 2021, and on the first day of 2022, it was $14.4 billion seeing a 1,245.79% increase.

Terra’s UST stablecoin grew by 5,431.22% in 12 months from $182.6 million on January 1, 2021, to $10.1 billion on the same day in 2022. Makerdao’s DAI grew by 641.66% from $1.2 billion on January 1, 2021, to $8.9 billion by January 1, 2022.

Magic internet money (MIM) was not around on January 1, 2021, but 128 days ago or four months ago, MIM had a market cap of around $879 million. MIM grew by 422.18% in four months to $4.59 billion by January 1, 2022.

The stablecoin frax (FRAX) had a $71 million market cap on January 1, 2021, and on the same day in 2022, it was $1.8 billion. FRAX grew by a whopping 2,435.21% in 12 months’ time. The eighth-largest stablecoin trueusd (TUSD) grew by 322.54% between January 1, 2021, to January 1 of this year.

TUSD’s market cap last year was $284 million and on January 2, 2022, it was $1.2 billion. Pax dollar (USDP) had a valuation of around $346 million on January 1, 2021, and 12 months later it was $1 billion growing 189.02%.

Lastly, the tenth-largest stablecoin fei usd (FEI) doesn’t have a market cap for January 1, 2021, but 301 days ago or nine months ago, it was $2.3 billion on April 4, 2021. FEI’s market cap actually shrunk during the 12 month period by 66.08% to $780 million.

What do you think about the issuance increases stablecoins saw between January 1, 2021 up until the same day this year? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.