Among the explored stablecoins, Tether (USDT)’s ERC20 version is “particularly well-distributed,” crypto market analysis firm Coin Metrics said, stressing that only a few accounts own a large majority of five other stablecoins’ supply.
Since its creation six years ago, the dollar-pegged Tether expanded to other networks from the Omni protocol (itself built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain) on which it was originally built. Tether now has Omni, Ethereum, Tron, and EOS versions. But even when issued by the same entity, “stablecoins on different networks have varying outcomes in supply and activity distribution,” said Coin Metrics.
We can understand how a stabecoin is used by exploring its distribution, according to the firm.
1. The supply distribution
If a stablecoin is used on few exchanges only, and lacks other activity, it means its distribution is not broad but concentrated in few addresses, and vice versa. “The ERC20 variant of Tether shines as being particularly well distributed amongst its holders,” wrote the firm. On the other hand, just six accounts or less than that own more than 80% of the supply for Tether (Tron), Gemini Dollar (GUSD), Binance USD (BUSD), USDK, and HUSD.
2. The activity distribution
One can look at how many accounts are responsible for the majority of the on-chain activity – a small number suggests not much use outside of a few exchanges. Ranked from the highest down, USDT takes the 3rd place, the ERC20 variant the 7th, and the TRC20 variant the 9th place out of ten. The most active Tether on Tron accounts, says the report, are connected to “dividend” payouts, being occasionally responsible for more than 90% of Tether on Tron transfers.
Meanwhile, while Paxos (PAX) appears to have a broad active user base, said Coin Metrics, the two most active accounts are linked to ponzi scheme MMM BSC, with more than 40% of all PAX transfers directly related to it.
3. Transfer value distribution
Whether stablecoin is used as a means of payment for retail users or as liquidity rails for traders, can be determined by the height of payment value. There are many retail-like transactions (those below USD 100) with USDT on Tron and PAB, “probably due to the presence of MMM and other dividend schemes on these assets.” Others, like HUSD and BUSD, have a large share of payments above USD 100,000.
Ranked number 3, Tether’s current total market capitalization is USD 9.4 billion.
___
Learn more: Mysterious Stablecoin Rally Marked With Regional Differences
