Welcome to In The Stables, a weekly briefing on the most important developments shaping the global stablecoin ecosystem. Each edition delivers clear, data-driven insights into market structure, regulatory momentum, and protocol-level shifts, along with a curated look at supply, flows, and onchain usage trends across the sector.
Stablecoins continue to sit at the center of digital asset infrastructure, from dollar clearing and exchange liquidity to emerging applications in payments and tokenized markets. As adoption broadens and institutional touchpoints deepen, the underlying dynamics of issuance, activity, and capital flows have become even more critical to monitor.
What’s included this week:
Stablecoin supply continued to grind higher, with total market cap rising 1.25% WoW to $311.0 billion.
Net inflows flipped sharply positive at $3.6 billion WoW, interrupting a prior outflow trend, suggesting tactical reallocations rather than renewed conviction.
Global payments adoption advanced as Visa enabled stablecoin-funded payouts on Visa Direct and SWIFT successfully piloted euro stablecoin settlement for tokenized bonds, reinforcing stablecoins’ role as interoperable settlement rails.
Regulatory and policy tensions intensified, with U.S. lawmakers stalling the CLARITY Act over stablecoin yield provisions, Bank of America warning of deposit flight risk, and the DOJ highlighting enforcement challenges tied to USDT’s use in large-scale illicit finance.
Summary: Sky Protocol is a DeFi lending protocol designed to bring stability to the cryptocurrency economy by issuing USDS, a collateral-backed stablecoin soft-pegged to the US Dollar.
Summary: Ethena Labs is a decentralized finance protocol on Ethereum that issues USDe, a crypto-native stablecoin backed by delta-hedged Ethereum and Bitcoin collateral.
Summary: Maple Finance is a DeFi protocol that functions as an institutional capital marketplace, providing a platform for credit professionals to manage lending businesses and syndicate undercollateralized onchain loans to institutional borrowers.
Summary: Merkl is an onchain incentive platform developed by Angle Labs that automates and streamlines the distribution of rewards for liquidity providers (LPs) using trust-minimized Merkle proofs
Current APY: 0.08%
TVL: $1.6 billion
In The News
Jan. 14, 2026 | Pakistan Explores Stablecoin Remittances With World Liberty Affiliate
Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance signed a memorandum of understanding with SC Financial Technologies, an affiliate of World Liberty Financial, to explore the use of the dollar-backed USD1 stablecoin for cross-border payments and trade. Under the agreement, SC Financial will work with Pakistan’s central bank to assess integrating USD1 into a regulated digital payments framework alongside the country’s planned central bank digital currency. The initiative targets remittances, a critical channel for Pakistan that accounts for more than $36 billion annually, and reflects broader efforts to modernize payments infrastructure.
Jan. 14, 2026 | Visa Enables Stablecoin Payouts on Visa Direct With BVNKVisa partnered with BVNK to support stablecoin-funded payouts on Visa Direct, allowing select business clients to pre-fund cross-border payments in stablecoins and send funds directly to recipients’ wallets in approved markets. The integration expands Visa Direct’s payout rails beyond fiat, building on earlier pilots involving stablecoins such as USDC. Visa said the initiative targets faster, always-on settlement, including outside traditional banking hours, with rollout limited to compliant markets and counterparties.
Jan. 15, 2026 | Bank of America Warns Stablecoin Yield Could Drain Bank Deposits
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan warned that interest-bearing stablecoins could divert up to $6 trillion from U.S. bank deposits, citing Treasury-backed studies during the bank’s earnings call. Moynihan argued that yield-bearing stablecoins function similarly to money market funds, with reserves held in short-term government assets rather than recycled into lending, which could reduce credit availability and raise borrowing costs, particularly for small and mid-sized businesses.
Jan. 15, 2026 | SWIFT Trials Euro Stablecoin for Tokenized Bond SettlementSWIFT completed a pilot with Societe Generale-Forge using the euro-pegged EUR CoinVertible (EURCV) stablecoin to settle tokenized bonds across blockchain and traditional payment rails. The trial covered delivery-versus-payment, coupon payments, and redemption, integrating ISO 20022 messaging and with SG-Forge describing EURCV as the first MiCA-compliant stablecoin natively compatible with SWIFT’s interoperability infrastructure. The initiative supports SWIFT’s broader strategy to bridge legacy systems and tokenized markets as it develops a shared blockchain-based ledger for real-time, cross-border settlement.
A disagreement over stablecoin yield provisions has stalled progress on the CLARITY Act after Coinbase withdrew its support, which has signaled it may withdraw backing for the bill unless a compromise on stablecoin yield is reached. The dispute centers on draft language that would bar platforms from sharing interest or rewards for holding payment stablecoins, a restriction with material implications for Coinbase’s USDC-related revenue. Banking groups argue the measure is necessary to prevent deposit outflows, while Coinbase has characterized it as anti-competitive and driven by bank lobbying. The resulting standoff delayed a planned Senate markup and introduced renewed uncertainty around the bill’s path forward.
The U.S. Department of Justice charged a Venezuelan national, Jorge Figueira, with laundering approximately $1 billion in illicit funds through cryptocurrency, primarily using Tether’s USDT on the Tron network. Prosecutors allege Figueira routed funds through a network of bank accounts, crypto exchanges, private wallets, and shell companies to obscure their origin and facilitate cross-border transfers involving multiple high-risk jurisdictions.
In The Data
The total stablecoin market cap continued to trend higher over the past 90 days, reaching $311.0 billion as of this week, up 1.25% WoW and 0.6% MoM. Growth remains incremental rather than broad-based, with supply changes concentrated among a handful of issuers.
USDT remained the dominant stablecoin by a wide margin, with supply effectively flat WoW at $186.8 billion. While its market cap declined marginally by 0.01% WoW, USDT’s market share fell more meaningfully, slipping from 60.8% to 60.1% as incremental issuance accrued elsewhere.
USDC was the primary beneficiary of that rotation. Supply grew 3.3% WoW to $76.4 billion, lifting its market share to 24.6%. Despite a modest MoM contraction, USDC continues to capture a disproportionate share of recent inflows, reinforcing its position as the clear second-largest stablecoin.
Among mid-cap issuers, supply growth was broadly positive. USDS and USDe both expanded by roughly 2% WoW, maintaining market shares just above 2%. DAI also grew 2.9% WoW to $4.7 billion, continuing its gradual recovery after a prolonged period of net redemptions. PYUSD increased 2.0% WoW to $3.7 billion, though its supply remains below levels seen one month ago.
Collectively, smaller stablecoins outperformed the market, with the “Others” category growing 3.8% WoW to $26.4 billion. This cohort has expanded nearly 10% over the past month, reflecting ongoing issuer experimentation and incremental diversification away from the two dominant incumbents.
Stablecoin network activity showed mixed signals this week, with user participation softening modestly while transaction volumes accelerated meaningfully. Average daily active addresses using stablecoins declined 3.1% WoW to 4.08 million, down from 4.21 million the prior week. Despite the weekly pullback, address activity remains constructive on a monthly basis, rising 1.25% MoM and suggesting that the broader user base continues to expand gradually.
In contrast, average daily stablecoin transaction volume increased sharply, climbing 33.9% WoW to $298.3 billion. The surge follows a comparatively muted prior week and points to a rebound in high-value transfers rather than an increase in user count. On a monthly basis, volume growth was even more pronounced, up 78.2% MoM, reflecting a meaningful reacceleration in capital movement across stablecoin rails.
Taken together, the divergence between declining active addresses and rising transaction volume suggests that recent growth has been driven primarily by larger flows from a smaller subset of participants. This pattern is consistent with renewed institutional or treasury-driven activity, rather than broad-based retail engagement.
Stablecoin flows turned decisively positive this week, reversing the prior week’s outflows. Net inflows totaled $3.62 billion, a sharp swing from $1.80 billion in net outflows last week. On a daily basis, average net inflows reached $516.8 million, compared to an average daily outflow of $257.6 million previously, underscoring the magnitude of the reversal.
Despite the strong weekly improvement, the broader monthly picture remains weak. Month-to-date net inflows stand at just $17.0 million, down sharply from $7.2 billion in net inflows recorded over the prior month, representing a 99.8% MoM decline. The current month’s average daily inflow of roughly $0.6 million remains well below last month’s $240.1 million daily average, suggesting that the weekly surge reflects a short-term reallocation rather than a sustained shift in capital positioning.
Overall, the data points to a meaningful but potentially transitory improvement in sentiment. This week’s inflows interrupted a negative trend, yet the collapse in monthly aggregates indicates that stablecoin demand has not yet re-established a durable growth trajectory.
Summary: This opinion analysis critiques proposed bans on stablecoin yield payments via third-party platforms under U.S. regulations like the CLARITY Act, arguing they could stifle innovation without addressing core risks, and advocates for balanced policies that preserve user incentives while ensuring issuer stability and consumer protection.
Summary: The report provides a deep dive into the challenges and pathways for scaling stablecoin payments, including infrastructure needs, regulatory hurdles, user adoption strategies, and integration with traditional finance, drawing on data from major issuers like Circle and Tether to outline actionable steps for achieving mainstream viability.
Author: Rav Hayer, Nathan Hilt, and Alla Gancz, Thoughtworks
Summary: This insight piece argues that traditional banks must urgently invest in stablecoin infrastructure to maintain relevance amid digital asset growth, analyzing integration models with neobanks and RWAs, potential revenue streams from tokenized assets, and risks of inaction in a shifting financial landscape dominated by blockchain-native solutions.
Author: Marco Gross and Richard Senner, International Monetary Fund
Summary: This research paper examines the financial stability risks posed by the growth of fiat-backed stablecoins as they achieve systemic scale, focusing on reserve portfolio expansion and market interconnections. It models liquidity and redemption pressures, potential fire sales in Treasury markets, and recommends robust prudential designs like diversified reserves and regulatory safeguards to mitigate systemic vulnerabilities.
Author: Wharton Blockchain and Digital Asset Project (BDAP), with contributions from Helen Tu and others
Summary: This comprehensive report categorizes the evolving stablecoin ecosystem into four key stabilization mechanisms (beyond traditional fiat vs. algorithmic distinctions), evaluates market trends and regulatory frameworks, and explores advanced use cases such as agentic commerce and institutional integration, emphasizing the shift toward compliance-driven innovation in 2026.
Closing Summary
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Alexander is a protocol researcher specializing in Layer-1 and Layer-2 infrastructure, as well as RWA's and Stablecoins. Before Messari, he worked at Jump Trading and Bull-Moose Consulting. He graduated from Northeastern University with a degree in Economics and Data Science, and helped run Northeastern's blockchain club.
Alexander is a protocol researcher specializing in Layer-1 and Layer-2 infrastructure, as well as RWA's and Stablecoins. Before Messari, he worked at Jump Trading and Bull-Moose Consulting. He graduated from Northeastern University with a degree in Economics and Data Science, and helped run Northeastern's blockchain club.
