Ethereum beats Tron in Tether market share: What drove this change?

• Despite its best efforts, Tron’s TVL remained lower than Ethereum’s.
• ETH also remained far ahead of TRX in certain metrics.

After a two-year battle for supremacy, Ethereum [ETH] has officially reclaimed its position as the leading blockchain for Tether [USDT] dominance, overtaking Tron [TRX].

According to recent market data, Ethereum now accounts for 44.56% of the Tether supply, slightly ahead of Tron’s 42.97%.

This shift marks a significant milestone for Ethereum and has wider implications for the blockchain ecosystem. 

Ethereum vs. Tron: Breaking down the numbers

AMBCrypto’s analysis of DefiLlama’s chart revealed the extent of Ethereum and Tron’s dominance in the stablecoin market.

While Ethereum and Tron collectively held over 87% of Tether’s market share, other blockchains, including Binance Smart Chain [BSC] at 3.52% and Arbitrum [ARB] at 2.24%, held significantly smaller portions.

This underscores the duopoly in the stablecoin space, with Ethereum and Tron at the forefront.

Source: IntoTheBlock

Tron had consistently been ahead in USDT transactions, buoyed by its low transaction fees and efficient network.

However, Ethereum’s resurgence can be attributed to its shift to a proof-of-stake (PoS) mechanism following the Merge and subsequent upgrades that have significantly reduced gas fees.

Additional analysis of the chart from IntoTheBlock showed that Ethereum began gaining momentum around the 6th of November. By the 17th of November, it had leveled with Tron.

Active address trends

Analysis of active addresses on Dune Analytics painted an intriguing picture of user activity on both blockchains.

Ethereum continued to exhibit a steady upward trajectory, maintaining over 1.5 million daily active addresses, excluding smart contract interactions.

This consistent growth highlights Ethereum’s utility beyond stablecoins, including DeFi, NFTs, and gaming.

Source: DuneAnalytics

On the other hand, Tron experienced a relatively volatile trend in active addresses, with significant spikes and troughs over time.

Despite these fluctuations, Tron remains a strong contender, with almost double the number of active addresses recorded.

According to an analysis of the Dune charts, active addresses on Ethereum in the last 30 days are over 6 million, while Tron has over 40 million.

Source: Dune Analytics

Implications for the stablecoin market

Ethereum’s regained dominance in Tether supply signals its increasing competitiveness in the stablecoin market, particularly for institutional users.

The network’s scalability and fee reduction improvements appear to be paying off, luring back users who migrated to cheaper alternatives like Tron.

Meanwhile, Tron’s near-parity with Ethereum suggests a healthy rivalry that benefits the broader blockchain ecosystem.

Read Ethereum’s [ETH] Price Prediction 2024–2025

Its focus on affordability and accessibility ensures that it retains a substantial market share, catering to demographics underserved by Ethereum’s previously high costs.

As of this writing, USDT holds over 70% of the stablecoin market share, with an over $133 billion market capitalization.