Stablecoin Revenue
Who keeps the yield on USDT, USDC and USDe, rerun every morning.
FIXED ON ITS DATE
Stablecoin Revenue: Who's Actually Making Money?
“The newest model didn't beat the incumbents. It bought them.”
Published July 2026 · PDF
Circle keeps more than the report said. Ethena keeps almost none of it.
Tether: 100% of yield kept by Tether. Unchanged since the July 2026 report.
Circle: 56.3% of yield retained by Circle (live), Coinbase receives the remaining 43.7%. The July 2026 report estimated Circle at approximately 50%.
Ethena: 0.3% of yield retained by Ethena (live), 99.7% passes to sUSDe stakers. The July 2026 report estimated Ethena at 2%, measured on a different basis.
Supply has grown, but a smaller share of it is staked, so less of the backing's yield reaches holders.
Fig. 1 · Share of annual reserve or collateral yield kept by the issuer. Marks show the July 2026 report. The report measured Ethena against gross protocol fees; the instrument measures it against sUSDe payout, so the two Ethena figures are not directly comparable.
| Stablecoin | Live supply | In report | Change | Reserve data as of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USDT | $183.45B | $183.40B · 31 Mar | +0.0% | BDO attestation, 30 Jun 2026 |
| USDC | $72.50B | $77.00B · Q1 2026 | −5.8% | Circle Q2 results, 30 Jun 2026 |
| USDe | $4.68B | $4.02B · 17 Jul | +16.4% | DeFiLlama, 30 Jun 2026 |
USDT supply history. Start (Jan 2025): $137.75B. Report (17 Jul 2026): $184.17B. Latest: $183.45B.
USDC supply history. Start (Jan 2025): $43.94B. Report (17 Jul 2026): $73.28B. Latest: $72.50B.
USDe supply history. Start (Jan 2025): $5.88B. Report (17 Jul 2026): $4.02B. Latest: $4.68B.
Fig. 2 · Circulating supply, daily. Source: DefiLlama. Before 30 Sep 2026, reconstructed from DefiLlama history; from then, recorded daily by the pipeline.
USDT is moving onto Solana: +$579M there in 30 days.
USDT supply by chain: Tron: 50.6%, Ethereum: 39.9%, BSC: 5.0%, Solana: 1.5%, Arbitrum: 0.4%, Other: 2.5%.
| Chain | Share | 30-day |
|---|---|---|
| Tron | 50.6% | +0.5% |
| Ethereum | 39.9% | −0.8% |
| BSC | 5.0% | +0.0% |
| Solana | 1.5% | +27.4% |
| Arbitrum | 0.4% | −3.3% |
| Other | 2.5% | −3.0% |
USDC supply by chain: Ethereum: 61.8%, Hyperliquid L1: 9.6%, Solana: 9.4%, Base: 5.9%, Arbitrum: 3.2%, Other: 10.1%.
| Chain | Share | 30-day |
|---|---|---|
| Ethereum | 61.8% | −3.9% |
| Hyperliquid L1 | 9.6% | −1.8% |
| Solana | 9.4% | −3.1% |
| Base | 5.9% | −0.4% |
| Arbitrum | 3.2% | +9.2% |
| Other | 10.1% | +0.8% |
USDe supply by chain: Ethereum: 53.0%, Plasma: 12.2%, Solana: 8.7%, Base: 8.3%, Robinhood Chain: 7.5%, Other: 10.4%.
| Chain | Share | 30-day |
|---|---|---|
| Ethereum | 53.0% | −6.6% |
| Plasma | 12.2% | +13.3% |
| Solana | 8.7% | −21.9% |
| Base | 8.3% | +6.8% |
| Robinhood Chain | 7.5% | +3.3% |
| Other | 10.4% | +14.8% |
Fig. 3 · Share of circulating supply by chain, top five chains and the rest. Source: DefiLlama, 19 Oct.
The rate the Tether model uses.
Spot 4.10% on 15 Oct 2026.
What a near-identical book actually earned last quarter.
Q1 net profit over the earning base. The rate is a trailing average and still runs above what Tether realizes.
Tether. Treasury bills and both repo lines from the 30 June attestation form the earning base, scaled to live supply on the assumption that the reserve mix holds between attestations. Gold, bitcoin, equities and loans are excluded. The rate is a trailing 30-day average of the 3-month bill, which still runs above what Tether realizes.
Circle. Live supply at Circle's disclosed reserve return. Coinbase's share is its reported stablecoin revenue over Circle's reserve income for Q2, about 44%, and is approximate: the two lines come from different filers. Retained income is before Circle's operating costs.
Ethena. DeFiLlama separates fees, the gross yield on all backing, from revenue, what Ethena keeps. The instrument uses revenue for Ethena's share and staked sUSDe at its stated rate for holder payout. Staked sUSDe is read on-chain daily from the sUSDe contract. The holder rate is the realized 7-day change in its exchange rate, with the July figure used until a week of history exists.
An open question. Tether's equity fell from $8.23B to $4.11B between Q1 and Q2. Marks on gold and bitcoin explain roughly $2.4B of it. The rest is unexplained here until Tether's own Q2 commentary is reviewed.
DefiLlama stablecoin and protocol data · FRED series DTB3 · Tether Q2 2026 attestation (BDO Italia) · Circle Q2 2026 results · Coinbase Q2 2026 10-Q · Ethena transparency dashboard · sUSDe contract on Ethereum (0x9D39...3497)
Model estimates, not disclosed results. Not investment advice.
Daily history since January 2025. Rows marked backfill are reconstructed; rows marked daily were recorded by the pipeline.