CCData, a renowned FCA-authorized benchmark administrator and global leader in digital asset data, has unveiled the September 2023 edition of its “Stablecoins & CBDCs Report”. The CCData Stablecoins Report is designed to highlight significant trends and activities in the stablecoins industry. The report centers on evaluations concerning market capitalization and trading volumes of various stablecoins, breaking them down by categories such as the type of collateral and the asset to which they are pegged.
Persistent Decline in Stablecoin Market Cap
The stablecoin market has been on a downward trajectory for 18 consecutive months. As of 18 September 2023, the total market cap of stablecoins has dipped by 0.63% to $124 billion, marking the lowest point since August 2021. Concurrently, the market dominance of stablecoins has also decreased, moving from 11.8% in August to 11.6%. Despite a 10.9% increase in stablecoin trading volume to $462 billion in August, trading activity on centralized exchanges (CEXs) has been sluggish, with only $174 billion traded as of 18 September 2023.
Binance to Phase Out BUSD
Binance, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, has revealed plans to gradually discontinue support for its stablecoin, Binance USD (BUSD), by February 2024. The market cap of BUSD has been shrinking for 10 straight months, dropping 19.1% to $2.49 billion in September. The number of BUSD trading pairs on Binance has also reduced, falling from 319 to 224 since the beginning of the year.
Emerging Players and Trading Volumes
PYUSD, a relatively new stablecoin, saw a significant uptick in trading volumes, totaling $8.46 million in September. Huobi, which listed PYUSD on 7 September, accounted for 57% of the trading volume. Meanwhile, FDUSD appears to be benefiting from BUSD’s decline, recording $4.61 billion in trading volume in September, making it the third-largest stablecoin by trading volume.
Top 10 Stablecoins
Tether (USDT) remains the dominant stablecoin, with its market cap increasing by 0.23% to $83 billion in September. Its market dominance also rose from 66.2% to 66.7%. On the flip side, BinanceUSD (BUSD) and FRAX experienced the most significant declines among the top 10 stablecoins, falling to market caps of $2.49 billion and $670 million, respectively. First Digital Labs’ FDUSD saw its market cap rise by 21.5% to $394 million, surpassing GeminiUSD (GUSD) as the 9th largest stablecoin. MakerDAO’s DAI saw its market cap increase for the second consecutive month, rising 4.63% to $5.44 billion.
Stablecoin Trading Volume
Trading volumes for stablecoins increased by 10.9% to $462 billion in August. However, as of 18 September 2023, only $174 billion has been traded, indicating a likely decrease for the month. USDT trading volumes on centralized exchanges decreased by 5.80% to $292 billion in August, with its market dominance by trading volume standing at 64.5%.
USDC Market Cap by Chains
Circle plans to launch its stablecoin, USDC, on six additional blockchains in the coming two months. The market cap of USDC has been declining for the 9th consecutive month, falling 0.50% to $25.7 billion. The majority of USDC supply is on Ethereum, accounting for 83.0% of the total. With the upcoming expansion to new blockchains like Polkadot and Cosmos, Ethereum’s share of USDC supply is expected to decrease.
Featured Image via Midjourney
