Tether USD (USDT) Balances Fall $4.6 Billion at 19 Exchanges and Lenders

Tether USD (USDT) balances at 19 selected exchanges and lenders fell a combined $4.6 billion from early July to Oct. 1, showing growing competition for trading deposits even as USDT retained its lead.

The institutions increased their holdings of other stablecoins by about $1.9 billion over the same period, including USD Coin (USDC) and Ripple USD (RLUSD). Those figures measure balances at a selected group of firms; they do not establish that every dollar of departing USDT was exchanged for another stablecoin.

Bybit recorded the group's largest USDT decline, at $1.66 billion, while its RLUSD balance grew $315 million. Binance held $987 million less USDT and $223 million more USDC. At OKX, USDT holdings fell $899 million as USDC holdings rose $273 million.

USDT's circulating supply declined by much less than the balances at those firms. It fell $647 million, or 0.4%, to about $184 billion from June 30 to Sept. 30. Some USDT moved to wallets outside the selected group, so the $4.6 billion balance decline does not represent a matching reduction in tokens circulating.

Bybit introduced rewards for RLUSD holders July 20, during the quarter in which its RLUSD balance increased. The program gave customers an incentive to hold the token on the exchange.

Hyperliquid ended the quarter with about $7.2 billion in USDC deposits, up $1.5 billion from the start of the period. Its arrangement shares most reserve income on those balances with Hyperliquid's protocol. The deposit increase shows how a trading venue's terms can coincide with a shift in stablecoin holdings.

USDT nevertheless represented roughly two-thirds of the $85 billion in stablecoins held at named exchanges at quarter-end. The gains for rival tokens at selected firms were small relative to USDT's share of those exchange holdings.

Its position in payments was larger still. From January through September 2026, USDT accounted for 84% of the $482 billion in classified stablecoin payment value. That payment value rose 45% from a year earlier. The measure excludes exchange and decentralized finance flows, so changes in trading deposits do not establish a comparable shift in payment use.