Stablecoins hit $300B market cap: Why Tether’s $10B profit is just the beginning

ambcryptoPublished on 2026-01-26Last updated on 2026-01-26

Abstract

Stablecoins have become the dominant revenue engine in crypto, with the market cap reaching $300 billion. Tether exemplifies this by generating over $10 billion in profit in 2025. Ethereum serves as the primary settlement layer, with stablecoin supply on it growing to over $160 billion and generating roughly $5 billion in revenue that year. Concurrently, Ondo Finance has emerged as a leading real-world asset (RWA) platform, with its Total Value Locked (TVL) surging to $2.5 billion, driven by tokenized U.S. Treasuries and equities. The growth in RWA TVL is closely linked to the expansion of the stablecoin market, as stablecoins provide the essential liquidity and settlement rails. This trend highlights a shift towards structural, yield-based growth rather than speculative narratives.

While L1s ecosystems continue to chase hype through narrative cycles and speculative throughput claims, crypto’s most reliable profits have accrued elsewhere.

Stablecoins have quietly evolved into the sector’s dominant revenue engine, driven by their scale, ubiquity, and control over on-chain settlement.

As a result, issuers have been able to convert this structural advantage into sustained cash flows, exemplified by Tether [USDT] generating over $10 billion in profit in 2025.

Stablecoin issuers have evolved into large-scale revenue generators, with Ethereum serving as the dominant settlement layer, anchoring that growth.

In 2025 alone, issuers generated roughly $5 billion in revenue tied to Ethereum-based supply. Quarterly revenue expanded from near $1.2 billion early in the year to about $1.4 billion by Q4.

At the same time, stablecoin supply on Ethereum [ETH] grew by nearly $50 billion, surpassing $160 billion.

As reserves expanded, yield-based income scaled predictably. This dynamic reinforces Ethereum’s financial gravity, deepens liquidity, and strengthens its role as core on-chain monetary infrastructure.

ONDO emerges as a core liquidity hub for tokenized RWAs

ONDO Finance is rapidly consolidating its position as a leading real-world asset platform, with Ondo Finance [ONDO] pushing total value locked (TVL) to roughly $2.5 billion by January 2026.

Earlier in 2025, TVL hovered just above $1 billion. Since then, capital has accelerated sharply, driven by tokenized yield products.

Tokenized U.S. Treasuries account for nearly $2 billion, led by OUSG and Ondo US Dollar Yield [USDY]. Meanwhile, tokenized stocks and ETFs exceed $500 million across more than 200 assets.

As ONDO expands across multiple chains, its scale signals growing institutional confidence in on-chain RWAs.

Is RWA TVL growth following stablecoin liquidity cycles?

RWA TVL growth increasingly tracks stablecoin supply expansion, revealing a clear liquidity-driven relationship.

As the stablecoin market cap climbed toward $280–300 billion by late 2025, RWA TVL simultaneously expanded to roughly $16–19 billion.

This side-by-side growth reflects function, not coincidence. Stablecoins act as settlement rails and yield-bearing inputs for tokenized treasuries and equities.

Consequently, platforms like Ondo doubled TVL beyond $2.5 billion as stablecoin-backed demand intensified.

Therefore, the trend signals structural conviction, though short-term stalls in stablecoin issuance can temporarily cap RWA momentum.

Final Thoughts

Stablecoins have become crypto’s most reliable profit engine, translating settlement scale into recurring cash flows while Ethereum reinforces its role as the dominant on-chain monetary layer.
Concurrently, RWA growth remains liquidity-driven, with TVL expansion closely following stablecoin supply, positioning platforms like ONDO as beneficiaries of stablecoin-backed demand rather than speculative cycles.

Has Hook Summer Truly Arrived? sato, Lo0p, FLOOD Ignite the New Uniswap v4 Narrative

With the broader market showing signs of recovery, a new wave of interest has emerged around Ethereum-based meme coins. Following ASTEROID, tokens like sato, sat1, Lo0p, and FLOOD, built upon the Uniswap v4 Hook protocol, are capturing market attention. Their market capitalizations range from millions to tens of millions of dollars, injecting much-needed focused liquidity into a market lacking narratives. This article explores whether this trend signifies an incoming "Hook Summer" and its potential impact on UNI's price. Hooks are essentially plug-in smart contracts for Uniswap v4 liquidity pools, allowing developers to inject custom logic at key points in a pool's lifecycle (like initialization, adding/removing liquidity, swaps). This transforms the AMM into programmable building blocks. Key highlighted projects include: * **sato**: Peaked over $38M market cap. It utilizes a v4 curve for minting/burning; buying locks ETH as reserve to mint new tokens, while selling redeems ETH from the reserve and burns tokens. * **sat1**: Market cap briefly exceeded $10M, promoted as an "optimized sato," but later declined significantly. * **Lo0p**: Reached nearly $6.6M. It's a lending AMM protocol where buying LO0P tokens locks them as collateral, allowing users to borrow ETH from the pool reserve at 40% LTV, aiming to improve capital efficiency for idle ETH in LPs. * **FLOOD**: Peaked near $6M. Its mechanism directs asset reserves from buys into Aave v3 to generate yield, with fees and interest retained in the pool to potentially influence the token's price long-term. In the long term, the development of the Hook ecosystem can attract users and liquidity to Uniswap v4, benefiting UNI's fundamentals—especially combined with the recent activation of the protocol fee switch, where a portion of fees is used to burn UNI. However, in the short term, these Hook-based tokens are unlikely to directly drive significant UNI price appreciation. Their impact is moderated by factors like token sustainability, price volatility, and broader market and regulatory conditions. Currently, Uniswap v4's TVL ($595M) still trails behind v2 and v3, indicating adoption and growth will take time. The article concludes that while the Hook ecosystem provides long-term "nourishment" for UNI, its short-term role is more of a "catalyst" than a "booster." Readers are cautioned that these are early-stage experimental tokens and may carry unknown risks.

Odaily星球日报2m ago

Has Hook Summer Truly Arrived? sato, Lo0p, FLOOD Ignite the New Uniswap v4 Narrative

Odaily星球日报2m ago

Interview with Michael Saylor: I Did Say I Would Sell Bitcoin, But Never a Net Sale

Interview with Michael Saylor: I Said We'd Sell Bitcoin, But Never Be a Net Seller In a recent podcast, MicroStrategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor clarified the company's stance on potentially selling Bitcoin. Following MicroStrategy's earnings call statement about being prepared to sell BTC to fund dividends for its STRC (Strategic) credit product, Saylor emphasized the distinction between selling and being a "net seller." Saylor explained the core business model: MicroStrategy sells credit instruments like STRC and uses the proceeds to buy Bitcoin, which is viewed as "digital capital" expected to appreciate around 30-40% annually. A portion of these capital gains can then be used to pay the dividends on the credit products. He stressed that even if the company sells some Bitcoin for dividends, it simultaneously buys much more with new credit issuance. For example, after raising $3.2 billion from STRC sales in April, the dividend obligation was only $80-90 million, making the company a net buyer. The clarification aims to counter market narratives questioning the value of Bitcoin on MicroStrategy's balance sheet if it were never sold, and to dismiss claims of a "Ponzi scheme." Saylor reiterated his personal philosophy for investors: "Don't be a net seller of bitcoin" and ensure your Bitcoin holdings increase each year. Saylor also discussed Bitcoin's role as the foundation for "digital credit," noting that STRC has become the largest and most liquid preferred stock issue in the U.S., offering high risk-adjusted returns (Sharpe ratio). He highlighted Bitcoin's deep liquidity, stating that even large purchases by MicroStrategy do not move the market significantly, which is driven by macro factors, geopolitical tensions, and capital flows from ETFs and credit products. Finally, Saylor reflected on his early inspiration from sci-fi books, which motivated his path to MIT, and maintained his fundamental thesis on Bitcoin remains unchanged: it is superior digital capital enabling superior digital credit.

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Interview with Michael Saylor: I Did Say I Would Sell Bitcoin, But Never a Net Sale

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Beaten SK Hynix Employees in China: Year-end Bonus Less Than 5% of Korean Staff's

"SK Hynix Chinese Staff Hit Hard: Bonuses Less Than 5% of Korean Counterparts" Driven by the AI boom, South Korea's SK Hynix is experiencing record performance, with media reports predicting massive year-end bonuses for its employees, making them highly desirable in the matchmaking market. However, this prosperity starkly contrasts with the situation for the company's Chinese employees. According to reports, SK Hynix operates under a rule allocating 10% of operating profit for employee bonuses. While projections suggest Korean employees could receive bonuses reaching millions of RMB, a Chinese employee with over a decade of technical experience revealed the disparity: "If they get 3 million, Chinese staff get less than 5% of that." After adjustments based on KPI ratings, this employee's highest bonus was slightly over 100,000 RMB. Bonuses are paid annually in Korea but semi-annually in China. During the industry downturn in 2023-2024, Chinese employees received no bonus at all. The gap extends beyond bonuses. Recruitment posts for SK Hynix's Chinese factories (in Wuxi, Dalian, Chongqing) show engineer monthly salaries ranging from 10,000 to 35,000 RMB, with a 13th-month salary promised. Chinese employees also receive standard benefits like annual leave but lack stock incentives, which are reportedly unavailable to them. Furthermore, management positions in China are predominantly held by Korean personnel, though industry observers note a gradual increase in local middle managers over time. SK Hynix has confirmed the 10% bonus rule but cautioned that specific future bonus amounts remain unpredictable. The company forecasts strong demand for HBM and other high-value enterprise products for the next 2-3 years, driven by AI infrastructure investment. This focus on business-to-business markets may continue to constrain supply for consumer products, potentially prolonging price increases for components like memory.

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Beaten SK Hynix Employees in China: Year-end Bonus Less Than 5% of Korean Staff's

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Y Combinator CEO's AI Usage Guide: The Future Belongs to Those Who Build Compound Interest Systems

The article presents the vision of using AI not as a simple chatbot, but as a personalized operating system that creates compounding value. The author, Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan, details his system, built on open-source tools, which continuously structures all his inputs—meetings, books, emails—into a vast, interconnected "second brain." He describes concrete examples like "book mirroring," where a book's content is analyzed and mapped to his personal context, and automated meeting preparation that leverages accumulated knowledge. The core philosophy is "skillification": turning recurring tasks into reusable, self-improving "skills" that form the system's building blocks. A key insight is the "meta-skill" that creates new skills, ensuring continuous improvement. The architecture consists of a thin "harness" for routing, thick "skills" for specific tasks, and thick "data"—a 100,000-page knowledge base. The author argues the future belongs to individuals who build such personalized, compounding AI systems, not just those using centralized tools. He concludes by encouraging readers to start building their own systems using the open-sourced framework he provides.

marsbit27m ago

Y Combinator CEO's AI Usage Guide: The Future Belongs to Those Who Build Compound Interest Systems

marsbit27m ago

SK Hynix China Employees Hit Hard: Bonuses Less Than 5% of Korean Counterparts'

"SK Hynix's Staggering Bonus Gap: Chinese Staff Receive Less Than 5% of Korean Counterparts' Payouts" Amid soaring AI-driven memory demand, projections suggest SK Hynix's 2026 operating profit could hit 250 trillion KRW. Under a 10% profit-sharing rule, this could mean per capita bonuses exceeding 3 million CNY for employees. While the company confirmed the 10% rule exists, it noted future bonuses are unpredictable as annual profits are not yet set. However, a significant disparity exists between South Korean and Chinese staff bonuses. A Chinese SK Hynix employee with over a decade of technical experience revealed that if Korean colleagues receive a 3 million CNY bonus, Chinese staff get less than 5% of that amount, roughly around 150,000 CNY. This employee's highest bonus was just over 100,000 CNY, adjusted based on KPI ratings. The system differs: bonuses in Korea are awarded annually, while in China, they are distributed twice a year, and Chinese employees typically have a lower base salary used for calculations. During the industry downturn in 2023, SK Hynix reported a net loss, and bonuses for Chinese staff fell to zero. Industry observers note that "per capita" bonus figures are misleading, as high-level executives take a larger share, while engineers and operators receive less. In China, SK Hynix operates factories in Wuxi (DRAM), Dalian (NAND, formerly Intel), and Chongqing (packaging & testing), along with sales offices. Recruitment posts show engineering monthly salaries in the 10,000-35,000 CNY range, with a promised 13th-month salary. Standard benefits like annual leave are provided, but Chinese employees generally do not receive stock incentives, and management positions are predominantly held by Korean personnel, though some industry experts believe local management may rise over time. Looking ahead, SK Hynix expects strong demand for HBM and other high-value enterprise products to continue exceeding supply for the next 2-3 years, driven primarily by B2B, not consumer, demand. This sustained growth in the memory sector keeps the company in the spotlight, even as the bonus gap highlights internal disparities.

marsbit40m ago

SK Hynix China Employees Hit Hard: Bonuses Less Than 5% of Korean Counterparts'