Schlagwort: crypto business

• USDT and USDC drop to 83.6% market share as rivals like USDe, PYUSD, and bank coins gain ground.
• Ethena’s USDe surges to $14.7B, leading new yield-bearing stablecoins reshaping the market.
• ING, UniCredit, JPMorgan, and Citi push into stablecoins, challenging Tether and Circle’s dominance.

Tether’s USDt (USDT) and Circle’s USDC (USDC), the two largest stablecoins by market capitalization, are showing signs of losing their long-standing dominance in the digital asset sector.

Despite both tokens growing in absolute market cap, their combined market share has fallen by more than 5% over the past year, suggesting a shifting landscape for stablecoins.

According to data from DefiLlama and CoinGecko, USDT and USDC’s share of the stablecoin market dropped from 89% a year ago to 83.6% as of October 2025.

Industry analysts say this marks the beginning of a new phase in which alternative issuers — including startups and banks — are positioning themselves to challenge the duopoly.

USDT and USDC’s market share decline

The peak of USDT and USDC’s combined dominance came in March 2024, when the stablecoin market was valued at $140 billion.

At that time, Tether held approximately $99 billion in circulation, and Circle’s USDC accounted for $29 billion, together representing 91.6% of the market.

Since then, the dominance has steadily declined.

By October 2024, USDT and USDC represented 89% of the sector, and at present, they hold just 83.6%.

That reflects a 5.4% drop over the past year and a 3.4% decline since January.

Nic Carter, a partner at Castle Island Ventures, highlighted the trend in a post on X titled “The stablecoin duopoly is ending.”

He attributed the decline to three primary factors: competition from intermediaries, an intensifying race to attract users with yield-bearing stablecoins, and shifting regulatory dynamics following the introduction of the US GENIUS Act.

New Stablecoin challengers emerge

Carter noted that several new players have gained traction in the past year, reshaping the stablecoin landscape.

Among them are Sky’s USDS (USDS), Ethena’s USDe (USDE), PayPal’s PYUSD (PYUSD), and World Liberty’s USD1 (USD1).

Ethena’s USDe has been particularly notable, growing to a $14.7 billion supply by offering holders yields derived from crypto basis trades. Carter described USDe as “the biggest success story of the year.”

Other issuers, including Ondo with USDY, Paxos with USDG, and Agora with AUSD, are also entering the market with similar yield-bearing structures.

While regulatory scrutiny has intensified under the GENIUS Act, particularly around yield products, Carter believes the trend of offering returns to stablecoin holders will continue.

Meanwhile, Circle is exploring ways to introduce yield features for USDC in partnership with Coinbase, signaling that incumbent issuers may adapt to the competitive pressure.

Banks enter the Stablecoin arena

Beyond fintech startups, traditional banks and financial institutions are also moving into the sector.

Carter suggested that bank-led stablecoin consortia have the strongest potential to rival Tether, as no single bank has the reach to scale a stablecoin alone.

Recent developments support this prediction.

In September, Dutch bank ING announced a joint venture with Italy’s UniCredit and seven additional European lenders to build a euro-denominated stablecoin.

The project, designed to comply with Europe’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, is expected to launch in the second half of 2026.

In the US, a stablecoin initiative involving JPMorgan and Citigroup has also been reported, with Carter predicting that such collaborations could fundamentally alter the balance of power in the market.

As competition accelerates, USDT and USDC may retain their leading roles but face an increasingly fragmented environment.

The shift marks a critical phase for the industry, where regulatory oversight, yield innovation, and institutional adoption are set to reshape the global stablecoin market.

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• Zcash traded above $145 on Thursday, October 2, 2025, with the privacy coin seeing a 57% uptick in the past 24 hours.
• Data shows bulls retested intraday highs above $152.
• Grayscale Zcash Trust, shielded ZEC sentiment, crypto rally amid US government shutdown are among Zcash price catalysts.

Zcash price has extended its massive breakout over the week by over 146% as bulls broke above $150 for the first time in four years.

With ZEC leading top performers as cryptocurrencies bounced amid US government shutdown sentiment, bulls gained over 57% in 24 hours.

Grayscale’s announcement of the Zcash Trust, offering access to eligible investors via a private placement, continued to drive sentiment, as is the market’s anticipation of regulatory approval of spot exchange-traded funds.

Zcash extends gains above $150, a 4-year high

The privacy coin Zcash last traded above $150 in April 2022, as the bulls’ upward strength in the past week has ZEC trending at four-year highs.

Zcash saw an uptick amid the launch of Zashi, a platform that expands shielded ZEC adoption by making it easy to swap any crypto for Zcash (ZEC).

Users don’t have to rely on centralized exchanges as Zashi’s decentralized swaps, powered by Near Intents, easily allows one to convert assets like Bitcoin, Solana or USDC into ZEC.

Couldn’t be better timing.

Buy ZEC in a completely decentralized manner directly from @zashi_app.

Keep it shielded in your Zashi wallet for maximum privacy.

Excellent work @jswihart and team. https://t.co/RPg37Jc37q

— Arjun Khemani (@arjunkhemani) October 1, 2025

Users can then add privacy features to their assets by shielding them, with private storage accessible within the Zashi wallet.

The value of ZEC in the market has increased as the total shielded value on the Zcash network jumps.

But that’s not the only catalyst for Zcash’s price.

ZEC jumped to a high of $124 on Oct. 1 after Grayscale launched the Zcash Trust.

The asset manager noted, “Zcash is similar to Bitcoin in its design. Zcash $ZEC was created from the original Bitcoin code base, but it uses a privacy technology that encrypts transaction information and allows users to shield their assets.”

With sentiment bullish, Grayscale’s move only helped buoy buyers, as the altcoin extended its rally, outpacing the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap.

Zcash price forecast

According to CoinMarketCap, ZEC’s current price near $145 is 248% up in the past month and over 817% from the all-time low of $15 reached in July 2024.

The price rally has catapulted the altcoin’s market capitalization to over $2.35 billion.

Meanwhile, trading volume in the past 24 hours stood at over $1.1 billion.

Zcash’s gains are also reflected in other privacy coins, with Monero bouncing off lows of $299 to trade above $336, and Dash jumping to highs of $35.

The weekly chart shows that ZEC could eye the $160 threshold, a level it failed to clear in April 2022.

If bulls extend gains, despite the chart suggesting overbought conditions, the $200-$245 area will be of fresh interest.

However, with the Relative Strength Index at 86, overbought conditions may see ZEC correct for a retest of support levels.

The $92 and $75 areas will be of interest to bears.

The post Zcash price rallies to 4-year high above $150: what’s the outlook for ZEC? appeared first on CoinJournal.

• Litecoin price jumped more than 12% to break above $120.
• Gains came amid a broader crypto market bounce that also saw Bitcoin and Ethereum hit highs of $118,500 and $4,300.
• ETF speculation, treasury strategy bets and overall macroeconomic conditions suggests LTC price could see a new all-time high in this bullish cycle.

Litecoin (LTC) price has retested the $120 mark amid a broader cryptocurrency market bounce.

As Bitcoin and Ethereum led the significant charge with gains of 5%, LTC saw a more than 12% spike to hit intraday highs of $121.

With sentiment increasingly optimistic amid a landscape likely to offer key tailwinds, Litecoin could be looking at a rally to highs last seen in 2021.

Litecoin price retests key level of $120

Litecoin’s rebound in the past 24 hours and past week aligns with the broader market’s uptick.

On Thursday, as macro factors helped BTC jump above $118,500, LTC saw its own upward flip. BTC price is eyeing the $120,000 mark.

Having broken from lows of $104 on Sept. 30, the altcoin continued higher to extend gains above $110. This saw bulls race to the crucial level of $120, an area likely to offer resistance as bears eye strengthening.

But the double-digit gain of over 12% in 24 hours, accompanied by trading volume spiking to over $1.3 billion, signals bullish strength.

LTC price prediction: How high can Litecoin jump amid ‘Uptober’ sentiment

The cryptocurrency community is buzzing amid calls for “Uptober”, a moniker referencing the cryptocurrency market’s historically bullish October periods.

As LTC targets fresh momentum, bolstered by a broader market cap recovery to $4 trillion, analysts project new multi year highs contingent on key catalysts like ETF approvals and macroeconomic shifts.

Filings for Litecoin spot ETFs from Grayscale, Canary Capital, and CoinShares are awaiting a green light from the SEC. Treasury plays like MEI Pharma are also adding to optimism.

On the technical front, LTC is pointing to a potential symmetrical triangle pattern breakout.

The upper boundary provided notable resistance earlier in the year, and bulls are looking to accumulate near this hurdle.

Successful bounce past this mark highlights a potential explosion to a new all-time high for LTC. Buyers could even set sights on $700-$1.000 in the current bullish cycle. Crypto analyst Captain Faibik shared a similar outlook on X.

$LTC #Litecoin will join the party soon, Accumulate it before it’s too late..✍️ pic.twitter.com/gc0VtMoKDE

— Captain Faibik 🐺 (@CryptoFaibik) October 2, 2025

This retest at $120 thus serves as a litmus test for whether the current bounce is a fleeting rally or the onset of a sustained uptrend.

If the threshold holds, particularly amid overall market upside, the Litecoin price could eye the first target of $200 in the coming weeks.

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