Tether and Circle Inject Billions After Weekend Market Crash – Here’s Why

More than $1.75 billion in new USDT and USDC entered circulation after President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement on China triggered the recent market crash.

On October 11, blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain reported that Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, minted roughly $1 billion worth of USDT on Ethereum.

New Stablecoin Mints Suggest Investors Buying the Crypto Dip

Crypto analyst JA Maartun, citing CryptoQuant data, noted that Tether minted $775.8 million on Oct. 10 and another $771 million on Oct. 11. Notably, this represents one of the largest short-term issuance bursts this year.

Tether’s USDT Stablecoin Mints on Ethereum. Source: Maarturn/X

With this expansion, Tether’s total supply now stands at $180 billion, including $80 billion on Ethereum alone.

Meanwhile, Circle—the issuer of USDC—minted $750 million in new tokens on Solana. This move boosted its total holdings on the network to $12.84 billion and raised its overall supply to nearly $75 billion.

The timing of these issuances is significant.

On Friday, the crypto market lost about $20 billion in leveraged positions following Trump’s tariff expansion. This triggered a steep sell-off across major assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The resulting liquidation cascade wiped out over-extended longs and erased double-digit gains from earlier in the week.

However, the wave of new stablecoin mints suggests that market participants are reallocating capital through stable assets. Instead of exiting the space, they are positioning themselves for renewed market opportunities.

Considering this, market analysts have interpreted the move as a sign that traders are positioning to accumulate digital assets at discounted prices.

Supporting that view, blockchain tracker Lookonchain reported that Bitmine, an Ethereum-focused investment firm, acquired roughly 128,700 ETH worth about $480 million shortly after the crash.

According to the firm, six wallets tied to the ETH treasury company withdrew the funds from trading platforms, FalconX and Kraken, within hours of the downturn.

So, the swift return of capital via new USDT and USDC issuances underscores how quickly sentiment in digital markets can rebound, even after a sharp macro-driven correction.