World-renowned Web3 security organization releases the “2025 Semi-annual Stablecoin Panorama Report”

On July 22, a global leading Web3 security agency released the “2025 First Half Stablecoin Panorama Report,” which comprehensively analyzes the market performance, risk landscape, regulatory progress, and development trends of the stablecoin industry. The report shows that USDT, USDC, PYUSD, and RLUSD stand out in terms of security, market dynamics, and compliance adaptation, ranking at the top of the scoring list.

The report points out that stablecoins are accelerating their integration into the mainstream financial system. By the first half of 2025, the total supply of global stablecoins has exceeded $250 billion, with a monthly settlement volume increasing by 43%, reaching $1.4 trillion. As traditional financial institutions and large enterprises increase their adoption, the strategic position of stablecoins continues to rise. Along with the gradual implementation of regulatory policies, compliance and security risks are receiving increasing attention, and the market landscape is also showing a trend of accelerated differentiation.

The market is growing strongly, with various stablecoins performing brilliantly.

In the first half of 2025, the stablecoin market continued to expand, with a total supply reaching $252 billion and a monthly settlement volume growth of 43%. User activity significantly increased, with the total number of holding addresses surpassing 120 million (as of the third quarter of 2024). USDT remains the most widely held stablecoin, with the number of addresses exceeding 5.8 million, about 2.6 times that of USDC.

The report is based on a professional stablecoin rating framework, systematically evaluating various mainstream stablecoins from six major dimensions: “operational resilience”, “governance capability”, “code security”, and others. Among them, USDC has seen its market capitalization soar to $61 billion, becoming the fastest-growing mainstream stablecoin due to its relevant licenses and successful listing; while PayPal’s PYUSD has achieved a doubling of market capitalization in a short period by integrating a well-known public chain network and launching a coin-holding reward program; RLUSD has maintained zero security incidents since its launch, successfully establishing its market positioning thanks to its safety and reliability in institutional-level application scenarios.

Frequent Operational Errors, New Stablecoins Introduce New Risks

In the first half of 2025, the risk landscape faced by the stablecoin industry is undergoing significant changes. A total of 344 security incidents occurred in the overall crypto market, with cumulative losses reaching as high as $2.47 billion, setting a new historical record. Among these, operational errors represented by the leakage of private keys from a certain trading platform have become the main source of losses, with a single incident causing losses of up to $1.5 billion. Compared to traditional smart contract vulnerabilities, attackers are gradually shifting their focus to the operational infrastructure of centralized platforms.

The report also warns that stablecoins are becoming a primary tool for some hackers to launder money, as certain public chain networks are preferred due to their low transaction fees and high liquidity. Although the proportion of such transactions has decreased in total transaction volume, the absolute amount still reaches hundreds of billions of dollars, posing significant compliance risks. In March 2025, a certain exchange was shut down, marking a significant event in the strengthening of regulatory compliance reviews.

Regulatory implementation reshapes market landscape, stablecoins accelerate integration into mainstream financial system

With the progress of relevant legislation in the U.S. Congress and the comprehensive implementation of EU financial regulations, regulation has become a key force in reshaping the stablecoin landscape. Compliance pressure is exacerbating market differentiation: institutional projects with licenses and transparent reserves are gaining higher market trust, while issuers that have not yet achieved compliance are gradually being marginalized by mainstream trading platforms.

In addition, traditional financial institutions and large enterprises have actively piloted stablecoin businesses in the first half of the year. Société Générale launched the dollar stablecoin “CoinVertible USD” based on Ethereum and a certain public chain, becoming the first large bank to launch a compliant dollar stablecoin; institutions such as Bank of America and Santander are also promoting related project development, some of which have entered the regulatory approval stage.

Outlook: A New Wave of Innovation for Stablecoins

Looking ahead to the second half of the year, the report predicts that RWA-supported and yield-bearing stablecoins will become the main innovation line, expected to occupy 8% to 10% of the over $300 billion market by the end of the year. RWA-supported stablecoins, by anchoring off-chain assets such as government bonds, highly align with the regulatory trend of promoting stablecoin compliance in major global economies; meanwhile, yield-bearing stablecoins, with their “on-chain version of money market funds” attribute, are attracting a group of investors seeking stable returns, especially garnering attention from institutional investors and high-net-worth users.

However, while such models bring new application value, they also introduce more complex counterparty risks and strategic risks. In this regard, the report emphasizes that rigorous risk management, transparent operational mechanisms, and a proactive compliance stance will be key to the long-term sustainable development of stablecoin projects.