Stablecoin reserves on crypto exchanges hit new historic high of $10B

Stablecoins like Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) have hit another milestone in terms of accumulation by exchanges.

According to market data provider CryptoQuant, stablecoin holdings on global crypto exchanges soared to a new all-time high on March 28, exceeding $10 billion.

Cryptocurrency exchanges are now holding nearly 16% of the total market value of all stablecoins, with stablecoin market capitalization amounting to $63 billion at the time of writing, according to data from CoinGecko. The total trading volume of all stablecoins is estimated at about $88 billion.

According to CryptoQuant data, volumes of stablecoin holdings on exchanges have been repeatedly seeing all-time highs this year, surging more than 100% in two months. As previously reported, stablecoin inflows are often seen as a short-term indicator of bullish action for Bitcoin (BTC), suggesting that sidelined capital is moving back into BTC.

Coupled with growing stablecoin accumulations, some other metrics like CryptoQuant’s All Exchange Stablecoin Ratio could potentially point toward another upward move in crypto markets. Technical analyst Crypto Seer noted on March 27 that the metric had reached its lowest level since November 2020.

“Each time this ratio has gone so low is marked by periods of significant strength for $BTC. The significant reduction in on exchange supply for BTC can be noticed here,” he said. The metric indicates BTC reserves divided by all stablecoin reserves held on exchanges, pointing to potential selling pressure.

The latest stablecoin market milestone comes as payment giant Visa is officially piloting its first settlement transaction in USD Coin on the Ethereum blockchain. USD Coin is the second-largest stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar, following Tether.

“I smell crypto mass adoption here,” CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju said about Visa’s move into USDC. Ju told Cointelegraph that the new spike in stablecoin holdings on exchanges could be a result of more United States investors entering the market:

"Stablecoin holdings across all exchanges could indicate potential buying power. Since last year, stablecoin market was mostly dominated by Tether, but now the market is evenly shared with other stablecoins like USDC, BUSD, HUSD, and etc. This stablecoin holdings surge came from the rise of USDC, which might indicate more US investors coming to this industry."

According to CryptoQuant, USDC holdings on crypto exchanges now amount to over $2.2 billion, while its market cap is around $11 billion.