Stablecoin supply posts 2026’s steepest weekly decline

Stablecoin supply fell $6.66 billion in the seven days to Nov. 7, reaching $292.31 billion, according to DefiLlama. It was the steepest weekly decline of 2026 and the largest contraction since the week Terra’s UST collapsed in May 2022.

The total has declined for 10 consecutive days since Oct. 29. Its rolling seven-day change has remained negative for 29 straight days. Supply fell $15.03 billion over the 30 days through Nov. 7, from $307.33 billion on Oct. 8. The total was at its lowest level since Sept. 24, 2025, when it stood at $291.68 billion.

Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC accounted for $4.40 billion, or 66%, of the weekly decline. USDT supply fell $3.10 billion to $177 billion, while USDC declined $1.31 billion to $70.60 billion. Neither token lost its dollar peg. USDT traded at $0.99892 and USDC at $0.99945 on Nov. 8, according to CoinGecko.

Eight of the 10 largest stablecoins contracted during the week. Sky’s USDS supply fell $864 million, World Liberty’s USD1 declined $357 million and BlackRock’s BUIDL fell $249 million. Ethena’s USDe increased by $404 million to $4.92 billion, while Ripple’s RLUSD rose $270 million to $2.69 billion.

Tether’s third-quarter attestation, prepared by BDO and dated Sept. 30, reported about $184 billion in USDT issuance. DefiLlama recorded $183.84 billion on the same date and $176.997 billion on Nov. 7. That represents a decline of $6.84 billion, or 3.87%, since Sept. 30.

The attestation listed $191.5 billion in reserve assets, including $132.4 billion in direct and indirect U.S. Treasury bill holdings. It also reported a $7.95 billion reserve buffer. Tether Chief Executive Paolo Ardoino wrote that the company’s responsibility was to keep USDT dependable when users needed it, including during pressure on financial markets and financial systems.

Circle’s USDC supply fell from $74.58 billion on Sept. 30 to $70.60 billion on Nov. 7, a decline of $3.99 billion, or 5.35%. Circle reported third-quarter revenue of $865 million, up 17% from a year earlier, while reserve income decreased 8%. Chief Executive Jeremy Allaire described the quarter as evidence that institutions were expanding their use of USDC.

Stablecoins are used in lending markets, perpetual futures and other onchain transactions. A decline in supply reduces the number of tokens available for lending and settlement. It can also lower the dollar value of total value locked when protocols hold stablecoins, even when no assets leave those protocols.

The decline began on Oct. 29, the same day as a Binance security breach. Binance later reported that it had replenished 98% of the affected assets. Tether and Circle did not link the supply decline to the incident. Daily declines became larger after Nov. 4, including a $1.42 billion reduction on Nov. 7.

Total stablecoin supply peaked at $315.54 billion on May 17. The Nov. 7 reading was $23.23 billion, or 7.36%, below that level. A reading above $300 billion would end the current 10-day decline, while a reading below $291.68 billion would set a new low for 2026.

Reviewed and fact-checked by Alex Panasenko on November 8.