Stablecoin Companies: The Issuers and Infrastructure Behind Digital Dollars

Stablecoins are digital tokens designed to hold a steady value, usually one US dollar, and they have become the most widely used product in crypto. Roughly US$300 billion of them were in circulation in 2026, used for trading, cross-border payments, savings in countries with weak currencies and, increasingly, everyday spending through cards. A small number of companies issue them, and a fast-growing group builds the infrastructure to hold, move and spend them. This guide covers the leading stablecoin companies, how the business works, the new US and EU rules, and the risks.

The table ranks private companies in our database that issue stablecoins or provide core stablecoin infrastructure, by sourced valuation. Tether has no disclosed valuation, so it appears without one even though it is by far the largest issuer. Circle, issuer of USDC, is publicly listed and discussed for context. Each company links to a full profile.

The ranking

How big is the stablecoin market?

Total stablecoin supply reached about US$315 billion at the end of March 2026, according to a Stablecoin Insider report, before flattening at around US$300 billion in the middle of the year. Two tokens dominate. Tether's USDT accounted for well over half of the market, at about US$185 billion, and Circle's USDC for about US$73 billion, according to The Block. The rest is split among dozens of smaller tokens, including PayPal's PYUSD, Ripple's RLUSD, Paxos-issued tokens and euro stablecoins.

Supply grows when people and businesses convert dollars into tokens and shrinks when they redeem them, so it is a useful gauge of demand. It roughly doubled between 2023 and 2026, helped by rising crypto markets, clearer regulation and new uses outside trading.

How stablecoin issuers make money

An issuer takes in dollars and issues the same value in tokens, promising to redeem them at par. It holds reserves, mostly short-term US Treasury bills, bank deposits and repurchase agreements, and keeps the interest. Holders typically earn nothing, because US rules restrict issuers from paying interest directly. With hundreds of billions of dollars of reserves and short-term rates of several percent, this is one of the most profitable business models in finance. Tether reported about US$10 billion of net profit for 2025.

The model has a clear sensitivity: when interest rates fall, issuer income falls with them. Distribution costs matter too. Circle shares a large part of its reserve income with Coinbase, which helps distribute USDC, and new issuers often pay exchanges and wallets to use their tokens.

The issuers

Tether (USDT)

Tether is the largest issuer and is privately held by a small group of owners. It is based in El Salvador and has used its profits to invest in Bitcoin, gold, energy, AI and media. In 2025 it explored selling about 3% of the company at up to US$500 billion, though no deal had closed by early 2026. USDT is not compliant with the new US rules, so in 2026 Tether launched USAT, a separate US-regulated token issued through Anchorage Digital Bank, according to Blockworks.

Circle (USDC)

Circle listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2025. USDC is fully reserved, regularly attested and positioned as the regulated option for US institutions. It is a major competitor to Tether and the benchmark for public-market investors valuing stablecoin businesses.

Paxos and white-label issuers

Paxos, a New York trust company, issues stablecoins for partners, including PayPal's PYUSD, as well as its own tokens. White-label issuance lets brands offer a stablecoin without becoming regulated issuers themselves, a model that could grow as banks and fintechs launch their own coins.

Ripple (RLUSD)

Ripple launched RLUSD in late 2024 and uses it in its payments and treasury products for financial institutions. Ripple is valued at US$50 billion after a March 2026 share buyback.

The infrastructure layer

Around the issuers, a large infrastructure market has formed:

• Custody and banking: Anchorage Digital, a federally chartered crypto bank, holds assets for institutions and issues USAT for Tether.
• Wallets and security: Fireblocks provides wallet and transfer infrastructure used by banks, fintechs and payment companies to move stablecoins.
• Cards and spending: Rain lets businesses issue Visa cards funded by stablecoins and was valued at US$1.95 billion in January 2026, according to The Block. Stripe's Bridge offers similar products.
• On- and off-ramps: MoonPay and others convert between local currency and stablecoins.
• Payments networks: Visa, Mastercard and Stripe have all added stablecoin settlement.

The GENIUS Act and US regulation

The GENIUS Act, signed in July 2025, created the first federal framework for payment stablecoins in the US. It requires issuers to hold one-for-one reserves in cash and short-term Treasuries, publish monthly reserve reports, follow anti-money-laundering rules and be licensed at the federal or state level. It bars issuers from paying interest to holders. A Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago analysis sets out how the framework works. Regulators were still finalising rules in 2026; one report said the one-year deadline for final rules passed in July 2026 with several proposals unfinished, and the law takes full effect by January 2027 (Coin-Turk).

The law has encouraged banks, payment companies and retailers to consider issuing their own stablecoins, and it gave large institutions confidence to use them.

Europe's MiCA rules

The EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, fully in force since late 2024, requires stablecoin issuers to be authorised as e-money institutions or credit institutions and to hold reserves largely in European banks. Tether chose not to seek authorisation, so EU-regulated exchanges restricted USDT for European users, while Circle obtained authorisation for USDC and its euro token. That split shows how regulation can reshape market share by region.

What stablecoins are used for

• Trading: most crypto trading pairs are priced in stablecoins.
• Cross-border payments: businesses send money across borders in minutes, any day of the week, at low cost. See our guide to cross-border payments companies.
• Savings in dollars: in Argentina, Nigeria, Turkey and other countries with high inflation, people hold stablecoins as digital dollars.
• Spending: stablecoin-linked cards let holders pay anywhere cards are accepted.
• Treasury and settlement: companies and financial institutions use them to move funds between entities and settle trades.

How to evaluate a stablecoin company

For issuers, ask: how much is in circulation and how fast is it growing? What exactly is in the reserves, and are they audited or only attested? Which regulators license it, and in which markets is the token permitted? How much reserve income is shared with distribution partners? For infrastructure companies, ask about payment volume, licences, customer concentration and how revenue is earned per transaction.

Risks

• Reserve and run risk: if holders doubt the reserves, a rush to redeem could cause a stablecoin to lose its peg, as happened briefly to USDC during the 2023 Silicon Valley Bank failure.
• Interest rates: lower rates shrink issuer profits.
• Regulation: rules differ by country and are still being written.
• Illicit finance: stablecoins have been used for money laundering and sanctions evasion, drawing enforcement.
• Competition from banks: tokenised deposits and bank-issued stablecoins could compete with crypto-native issuers.

What to watch

Watch for final GENIUS Act rules, new bank and retailer stablecoins, Tether's fundraising and USAT's growth, card-network adoption, and whether total supply resumes growth after its mid-2026 plateau. Our guides to crypto infrastructure companies and the largest private crypto companies cover related firms.

Key takeaways

Stablecoins have become crypto's main bridge to the traditional economy, with about US$300 billion in circulation in 2026. Tether and Circle dominate issuance, while a new layer of custody, wallet, card and payments companies is growing around them. US and EU regulation is turning stablecoins from a crypto niche into regulated financial infrastructure, which brings both legitimacy and new competition.