Stablecoins market cap hits an all-time high of $256 billion

The total stablecoins market capitalization surged to an all-time high on Wednesday, data shows that the coins recorded $256 billion, up 22% this year.

This surge has been fueled by the US Senate’s approval of the GENIUS Act by a 68-30 vote, marking the first major crypto bill to pass the Senate. Although it still needs approval from the House and President Trump, the bill has made it through the hardest steps.

   

Stablecoins have become a core part of the crypto industry. In Q1 2025 alone, stablecoins accounted for 28% of total crypto transaction volume. Meanwhile,  USDT continues to dominate the market, accounting for over half of the total market capitalization at 155 billion. USDC follows with a market capitalization of 61 billion.

Investors plan to launch more stablecoins

As the bill progresses, Trump is getting more personally involved with stablecoins. World Liberty Financial, a crypto company backed by President Trump and his sons, together with BitGo, has launched its own stablecoin that is pegged to the US dollar (USD1).

However, the Genius Act bans members of Congress and their families from earning profits from stablecoins, but not President Trump and his family. This omission has irked some Democrats and slowed progress on the legislation this spring.

Many big companies, from rumored giant lenders to mega stores, are already thinking about whether to make their own coins.

For instance, at a Morgan Stanley conference, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan talked about the company’s plans for a stablecoin last week. “We’re working with the industry, working individually,” he said.

This month, Bank of America and other large banks got together to discuss the possibility of launching a collaborative stablecoin network. Also, last week, the Wall Street Journal said that Amazon (AMZN) and Walmart (WMT) are looking into stablecoin possibilities.

“While we continuously explore new payment technologies in efforts to support our customers, we are not piloting any programs and do not currently have any plans in place to issue our own stablecoin,” a Walmart spokesperson said.

Some Democrats, like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, have raised these concerns. They have cited that the bill will allow big tech companies like Amazon or Meta (META) start their own stablecoins.

However,  Disparte pointed out that the bill says any tech company that wants to make a stablecoin must first get permission from a special committee at the Treasury Department.

The rest of the crypto market takes a dip

Circle is a sign of growing investor enthusiasm for stablecoins as the legislation advances in Congress. Its stock has soared roughly 400% since its debut day of trading on June 5.

The crypto market expects stablecoins to rally more after the bill passes. The head of that department, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, also has high hopes for what the legislation may mean.

He told lawmakers last week that the legislation could help push the US stablecoin market beyond $2 trillion by the end of 2028. 

Meanwhile, the global crypto market continues to tumble as escalating tensions in the Middle East prompted investors to flee riskier assets. The cumulative crypto market cap dropped by almost 2% over the last day to stand at $3.26 trillion. 

The 24-hour trading volume also took a hit of around 9% to drop to $121 billion. The biggest crypto token, BTC, has not done much. It has remained steady at the $104k level. This suggests that traders might take a halt now.

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