Growing In The Chaos: Tether USDT Adds 35.2M Users in Q4

[Ben Graham]

Despite the market being literally a red sea, with BTC hovering around $71K and sentiment locked in extreme fear, Tether USDT continues to flex hard. In Q4 2025 (October–December), the issuer released its latest BDO-verified attestation, showing USDT hitting record highs even as altcoins bled and the October 10 liquidation cascade wiped out over a third of total crypto value.

Tether reported that its USDT stablecoin added 35.2 million new users in the fourth quarter.

What can we extrapolate from this information? A simple conclusion is that users and liquidity are not completely leaving crypto: they are shifting toward stablecoins as traders try to catch a potential market bottom. And USDT is the favourite choice.

USD₮ Q4 2025 Market Report
Learn more: https://t.co/xKzGkGTr4k

— Tether (@tether) February 4, 2026

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USDT Dominance Hits New Heights: Tether Records Users, Cap, and On-Chain Activity

USDT’s market cap climbed to $187.3 billion, up $12.4 billion in just three months, during one of the roughest quarters in recent memory.

Reserves pumped to $192.9 billion (+$11.7B), delivering $6.3 billion in excess equity over liabilities: basically a fat buffer for redemptions. Full-year 2025 profits topped $10 billion, mostly from juicy yields on massive U.S. Treasury holdings.

User adoption went parabolic: Tether added 35.2 million new users in Q4 alone, pushing the estimated global total to 534.5 million (eighth straight quarter smashing 30M+ adds).

On-chain holders (wallets holding USDT ≥24h) climbed to 139.1 million, controlling ~70.7% of all stablecoin wallets. Monthly active on-chain users reached a record 24.8 million, securing approximately 68.4% of the market share. Q4 transfer volume hit $4.4 trillion with billions of on-chain txs. Pure liquidity dominance.

During the October crash, USDT actually grew +3.5% while competitors shrank or stagnated.

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Reserves Stacked for the Long Game: Treasuries, BTC, and Massive Gold Accumulation

On the reserves mix: $141.6 billion in U.S. Treasury exposure, making Tether a top-20 global holder if ranked as a country, bigger than Saudi Arabia or Germany in some metrics. They stacked more BTC too: 96,184 coins (up ~9,850 in Q4).

Market Cap

24h 7d 30d 1y All Time

But the real flex is gold: 127.5 metric tons physical (up 21.9 tons QoQ), stored in ultra-secure Swiss vaults.

This ties into Tether’s broader gold tactic. Beyond backing USDT reserves for diversification (hedging fiat/debt risks amid dollar skepticism and geopolitical chaos), they aggressively ramp up physical gold buys: $24B at peaks.

XAUT dominates gold-backed tokens (~60% share), with dedicated backing separate but synergistic to USDT’s overall reserve strategy.

Tether’s scale, network effects, emerging-market remittances, and now gold diversification keep it undefeated.

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