Gushiken Yona
Key Points
- Global stablecoin liquidity contracts to $309 billion, retreating from a record $311 billion peak on January 18.
- Tether burns 3 billion USDT following redemption surges as capital rotates into gold and traditional safe-haven assets.
- Cooling liquidity signals investor hesitation, highlighting the strategic need for sovereign stablecoins like Ryoshi’s envisioned SHI.
The global stablecoin market capitalization reached a temporary ceiling this week. DefiLlama data shows the sector declined to $309.066 billion as of Monday. The figure represents a retreat from the record high of $311.332 billion reached on January 18. This reduction in digital dollar liquidity coincides with a broader de-risking phase across the digital asset market.
Bitcoin traded near $86,577 on Monday. The current price level marks a retreat from the January 15 peak near $97,000. Simultaneously, gold spot prices climbed to $5,089 per ounce. These movements suggest a tactical rotation by large-scale investors seeking traditional safe-haven assets amidst crypto-market consolidation.
Tether Redemptions and Market Concentration
Tether executed a 3 billion USDT burn on January 20. Blockchain monitoring service Whale Alert reported the destruction following a surge in large redemption requests. The burn followed a 1 billion USDT mint on the Tron network earlier in the month. Net movements show that USDT growth is slowing. The 60-day average growth rate reached $3.3 billion in late January, representing a sharp drop compared to the $15 billion average maintained during the final quarter of 2025.
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Tether maintains its dominance with a 60% market share of the stablecoin sector. USDC holds the second position. Its market capitalization sat at $72.41 billion on January 25 according to CoinMarketCap. Total stablecoin transaction volume reached $33 trillion in 2025. However, the majority of this activity involved wash trading or internal transfers. Adjusted payment volumes representing genuine merchant transactions amounted to approximately $400 billion annually.
Capital Rotation and Investor Hesitation
Digital dollars are currently rotating between blockchain networks. Artemis Analytics recorded a $3.4 billion decline in Ethereum-based stablecoin supply over a seven-day window. Solana simultaneously attracted $1.3 billion in net stablecoin inflows. Capital is seeking high-velocity networks rather than exiting the ecosystem entirely.
CryptoQuant characterized early January conditions as a period of investor hesitation. The firm reported net stablecoin outflows of $950 million on January 9. Historically, stablecoin supply growth precedes sustained rallies by providing the necessary dry powder for buying pressure. The market currently absorbs the results of a massive 48.9% supply expansion recorded throughout 2025.
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Strategic Significance for the Shiba Inu Ecosystem
Stagnant stablecoin growth impacts the liquidity profiles of high-beta assets like Shiba Inu (SHIB). The SHIB community monitors these global dollar flows as a prerequisite for technical breakouts. A healthy stablecoin environment provides the stability needed for SHIB’s integration into mainstream payments and decentralized finance applications.
Resilience in the ecosystem mirrors the long-term vision of its creator. In his original Medium manifestos, Ryoshi described a sovereign stablecoin as the final piece of the technical stack.
“The end goal is that SHI becomes the global exchange of value,” Ryoshi wrote. He envisioned a system where digital dollars serve as a utility layer rather than just speculative collateral. The current market cooling highlights the importance of this vision. Reaching the goal of SHI remains a strategic objective to decouple Shiba Inu from the erratic cycles of third-party stablecoin issuers.
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YONA GUSHIKEN
Yona brings a decade of experience covering gaming, tech, and blockchain news. As one of the few women in crypto journalism, her mission is to demystify complex technical subjects for a wider audience. Her work blends professional insight with engaging narratives, aiming to educate and entertain.
