{"slug":"stablecoin-supply","term":"Stablecoin Supply","category":"Whales & On-Chain","definition":"Stablecoin supply is the total value of dollar-pegged tokens in circulation — USDT, USDC and peers. Growing supply means fresh dollars are entering crypto rails, adding to the market's buying power; shrinking supply means redemptions and dollars leaving. Traders read it as the dry powder available to bid crypto.","street":"No fresh stables, no fresh pump — this is the market's wallet balance.","depth":["Aggregate stablecoin cap runs in the hundreds of billions — Tether alone circulates north of $150B — and the 30-day change is the number to watch. Two refinements: the Stablecoin Supply Ratio (BTC market cap divided by stablecoin cap) gauges buying power against price, and stables sitting on exchanges matter more than the total — dollars parked on-exchange are one click away from being bids.","The misread is treating every supply increase as crypto demand. A growing chunk of stablecoin usage is emerging-market savings and payments — those dollars are never bidding your altcoin. And a rally on flat stablecoin supply is running on leverage, which is exactly the kind that unwinds fast. The combination that fuels sustained moves: rising aggregate supply plus rising exchange stablecoin balances, together, for weeks."],"live":{"label":"Size up the dry powder","href":"/markets/crypto"},"related":["mint-burn","exchange-netflow","market-cap"]}