109 million on-chain wallets hold USDT

Tether says that of the millions of on-chain wallets that received the USDT stablecoin at the end of Q3 2024, more than 109 million are holders.

In a December 9 blog postTether noted that millions of users currently use Tether (USDT) stablecoin as a bank account. In October, the company released a report which showed that 330 million users, represented by on-chain wallets and accounts, had received USDT by the end of September 2024.

However, the report notes that many more USDT users use it only off-chain. This means that adoption of the world’s largest stablecoin by market capitalization is broader than the data indicated, said Philip Gradwell, head of economics at Tether.

On-Chain USDT Holders

At the start of Q4 2024, there were 109 million users owning USDT in on-chain wallets. This figure eclipses Bitcoin (BTC) wallets of more than double, and is not far from the 128 million wallets containing Ethereum (ETH) on the chain at the beginning of October.

In addition to the 109 million on-chain USDT wallets, Tether estimates that two-thirds, or approximately 56 million, of the wallets that use the stablecoin on centralized platforms are holders. Partner details suggest that most crypto exchange users in emerging markets use the platforms exclusively to buy, hold and transfer USDT on platforms such as Binance, Coinbase and OKX.

According to the December 9 report, a total of 165 million or more hold the on-chain stablecoin. The continued reactivation of wallets amid repeat payments also suggests that many more users trust and appreciate the utility of USDT “as a store of value,” Tether noted.

Tens of millions of accounts could hold USDT on centralized exchanges and trading platforms.

Notably, 18.7 million wallets contain between one cent and $1 in USDT, while 31.5 million wallets currently contain between $1 and $1,000 in USDT. Data shows that on-chain USDT wallets outnumber all other stablecoins by almost 4x, with 54 million compared to 13.8 million wallets for competitors.

USDT’s market capitalization stood at over $137 billion at the time of writing, more than three times that of its closest challenger, USDC (USDC). The market capitalization of USDC currently stands at around $40 billion.