Stablecoin Market Takes a Breather After December’s $310B Peak

Metrics show the stablecoin economy trimmed $773 million this past week, and since Dec. 13, the fiat-pegged token sector has logged a $2.5 billion pullback.

Stablecoins Cool off in Early 2026

While crypto markets bounced back over the last seven days and muscled their way back above the $3 trillion line, the stablecoin sector slipped by 0.25%. Tether ( USDT) inched higher by 0.16% ($299 million) and kept its crown as the largest stablecoin, with a market cap hovering near $187 billion.

As it stands today, defillama.com stablecoin stats show USDT accounts for 60.80% of the combined $307.57 billion stablecoin economy. Circle’s USDC slid 1.49% week over week, settling in with a market cap of $75.2 billion today. Meanwhile, Sky’s USDS notched a 2.95% weekly gain and now sits at roughly $6.3 billion, while Ethena’s USDe barely budged—up a razor-thin 0.02%—holding steady at about $6.3 billion.

USDe has slipped to fourth place after a string of weekly pullbacks that were far steeper than this week’s modest dip. On the flip side, Sky’s DAI dipped 0.87% over the past seven days, carrying a $4.5 billion market cap, while Paypal’s PYUSD slid 2.84% and now sits at roughly $3.6 billion.

Among the smaller names, World Liberty Financial’s USD1 climbed 4.09% to a market cap of about $3.4 billion, Falcon Finance’s USDf slid 2.62% to $2.1 billion, while Circle’s Treasury-backed USYC edged down 0.06% with a $1.5 billion valuation, and Ripple’s RLUSD dipped 0.91% while holding near $1.35 billion to round out the top ten.

Also read: Bitcoin Derivatives Market Leans Bullish, but Max Pain Looms Below Spot

The stablecoin sector briefly tagged an all-time high last month when it cleared $310 billion on Dec. 13, according to defillama.com’s records. Since then, about $2.54 billion has peeled away, with USDC’s 1.49% weekly dip alone translating into a $1.12 billion outflow this week. Add USDe’s ongoing weekly drawdowns to the mix, and you arrive at the current pecking order as the first week of 2026 gets underway.

All told, the latest figures show a stablecoin market easing off its December peak rather than losing its footing, with capital rotating between incumbents and a few upstarts instead of fleeing outright. The numbers paint a market that is trimming excess, reshuffling rankings, and settling into 2026 with a clearer sense of where liquidity is sticking—and where it is quietly heading for the exits.

FAQ ❓

• **What did the stablecoin market do this week?**The sector pulled back as capital rotated out of major stablecoins following its Dec. 13 peak above $310 billion.
• **Which stablecoins saw the largest weekly changes?**USDC posted a notable weekly outflow, while USDe continued its multi-week decline and USD1 logged gains.
• **What is the current size of the stablecoin market?**The total stablecoin market stands at $307.6 billion during the first week of 2026.
• Does the pullback signal stress in crypto markets?

No. Not at all. The data points to rebalancing within stablecoins rather than broad-based weakness across crypto.