Custom Stablecoins Face Fragmentation Hurdles in Liquidity

The stablecoin market is large and concentrated, with a total capitalization of about $308.2 billion, according to DeFiLlama. USDT dominates this market, making up around 59.64% of the total, and its order flow follows depth rather than ideals.

However, creating a custom stablecoin can be challenging due to fragmentation in liquidity. This occurs when smaller or newer tokens struggle to achieve meaningful fills without relying on bribes or bespoke market maker deals.

Cross-chain presence is another factor that complicates the picture. USDT exists on around 130 networks, which may seem like abundance but often results in many shallow pools instead of one deep ocean, plus a zoo of wrapped variants with different trust assumptions.

Meanwhile, actual trading demand can detach from circulating supply. In Q2 2026, USDC grabbed about 12.5% of total crypto trading volume even as supply slipped to roughly $73.5 billion, according to FinanceFeeds/CoinGecko.