Tether Edges Past Ethereum in Market Value, But Briefly
Tether's USDT briefly took over Ethereum in market value for the first time in nearly eight years, but its reign was short-lived. The stablecoin's market cap climbed to around $187.05 billion while Ethereum's slipped to about $186.263 billion, causing a gap of less than $1 billion between the two assets.
The shift came as investors pulled capital from risk assets and turned to stablecoins for liquidity, according to analysts who say this trend feeds talk of a 2026 'stablecoin season.'
Ethereum has since reclaimed its second-place ranking, with its market cap back near $188 billion. This comes after a broad retreat from risk, during which the stablecoin market contracted by more than $7 billion in under 21 days and investors pulled about $400 billion from crypto.