The draft of the Stablecoin DeFi Liquidity Budget is now open for public review and feedback. A governance action is expected to be submitted soon, and if approved, up to 50 million ADA could be used within the next few months to boost liquidity in the Cardano ecosystem through stablecoins. This article explores the four most widely used USD-backed stablecoins on Cardano: USDM and USDA – native to the Cardano blockchain USDC and USDT – bridged to Cardano via the Wanchain Bridge Understanding the role of each stablecoin is key to evaluating the impact and effectiveness of the proposed liquidity strategy. USDM USDM, issued by Moneta (formerly Mehen), is the longest-standing and arguably the most widely used USD-backed stablecoin on Cardano. It was first minted 1 year and 5 months ago, and since then, there have been 170 individual minting events. Today, USDM is held in over 3,000 wallets, with a circulating supply of approximately 12.6 million tokens. Trading volume per epoch typically ranges between 1500 million and 2500 million ADA, and the network sees an average of around 5,000 USDM-related transactions per epoch. USDA USDA, developed by Anzens in collaboration with EMURGO, is a newer USD-backed stablecoin in the Cardano ecosystem that’s rapidly gaining momentum. It was first minted 7 months ago and has since seen 145 minting events. Currently, USDA is held in approximately 300 wallets, with a circulating supply of around 10 million tokens. Trading volume per epoch typically ranges between 1500 million and 2500 million ADA, while the number of transactions per epoch fluctuates between 1,500 and 2,500—indicating steady and growing usage. USDC and USDT Cardano doesn’t support native minting of USDT and USDC, but both stablecoins are available via the Wanchain Bridge. While bridged assets carry certain risks and are generally less popular than native stablecoins, USDT and USDC are performing reasonably well on Cardano. Wanchain is highly respected in the cross-chain space, especially for its work on Cardano interoperability. It’s one of the most mature and trusted bridges in the industry. Since launching mainnet support for Cardano in August 2023, Wanchain has enabled decentralized, bi-directional bridging of ADA, native tokens, and ERC-20 assets between Cardano and other major networks—making cross-chain liquidity more accessible than ever. USDC was first minted on Cardano 2 years and 1 month ago and has since seen over 4,700 minting events. It’s currently held in around 1,900 wallets, with a circulating supply of approximately 3.3 million tokens. Despite being a bridged asset, USDC shows strong activity on Cardano. Epoch trading volume typically ranges between 400 million and 800 million ADA, with 2,000 to 4,000 transactions per epoch. USDT is performing noticeably below USDC on Cardano, despite being introduced at the same time, 2 years and 1 month ago. Since launch, USDT has seen over 1,900 minting events, roughly half as many as USDC. It’s held in around 1,800 wallets, but its current supply is significantly lower at approximately 715,000 tokens. Trading volume per epoch ranges between 12 million and 70 million ADA, and transaction counts fluctuate between 500 and 1,500 per epoch, indicating more limited usage compared to USDC. Overall Overview In the table, you can see an overview of the supply and the number of holders. Furthermore, the approximate volume and number of transactions per epoch. Cardano users clearly favor natively minted stablecoins over bridged alternatives. Currently, the ecosystem holds a combined total of 26.6 million USD-backed stablecoins. These stablecoins are distributed across approximately 7,000 wallets, though the actual number of unique users may be lower, since some hold multiple types. Trading activity is strong, with $4.6 billion in volume processed across roughly 8,000 transactions per epoch. Conclusion If DReps approve the use of 50 million ADA from the Treasury to mint stablecoins, the total supply of USD-backed stablecoins on Cardano could roughly double, potentially surpassing $50 million USD—depending on ADA’s market price at the time of minting next year. This injection of liquidity could be a turning point. A larger stablecoin supply may encourage other market participants to enter the ecosystem and begin deploying their own stablecoins, further strengthening Cardano’s DeFi landscape.
