In a comprehensive analysis of the third quarter of 2026, the RWA Foundation reported a significant growth in the stablecoin market, which reached $300.9 billion by October 1st. This expansion is distributed across 195 assets, 152 issuers, and 47 blockchain networks. The number of addresses holding stablecoins surged to 308.4 million, underscoring the widespread adoption of these digital assets.
Significant Shifts Among Issuers
The report highlights notable changes among network distributions and issuers. Circle led the pack, expanding its market capitalization by $915 million over the last 90 days. Ripple and United Stables followed, with increases of $765.3 million and $474.2 million respectively. Tether, however, faced a contraction, with its stablecoin market value decreasing by $207.7 million. Despite controlling 61% of the total supply, USDT did not make it into the top 10 for growth.
RWA Foundation data shows the fastest-growing issuers are not the largest players; RLUSD, representing only 0.8% of the total stablecoin supply, and U stablecoin, with 0.5%, ranked second and third, respectively, this quarter.
Ripple’s RLUSD Sees Accelerated Growth
Ripple’s stablecoin, RLUSD, demonstrated robust expansion not only in supply but also in its user base during Q3. The asset saw an influx of 23,600 new wallets, propelling it into the top 10 for ownership growth. Jack McDonald, Ripple’s Senior Vice President of Stablecoins, announced in the August monthly independent verification summary that RLUSD’s market value exceeded $2.4 billion, reflecting an over 50% increase within a month. Since the beginning of the year, RLUSD’s average daily activity has more than tripled.
Jack McDonald highlighted that RLUSD’s market cap surpassed $2.4 billion and its average daily activity has increased more than threefold since the start of the year.
Expanding Liquidity and Utility
Ripple advanced its technological framework by incorporating the Machine Payments Protocol through its XRP Ledger AI Starter Kit update. This collaboration between Stripe and Tempo introduces a new framework for developers, enabling AI agents to execute one-time payments on XRPL with assets like XRP and RLUSD. In a volatile market, where swift changes can sway fortunes in seconds, smart traders increasingly turn to privacy-focused tools like CryptoAppsy for streamlined portfolio management without creating accounts, offering real-time charts, intelligent price alerts, and specialized news in one interface.
RLUSD’s liquidity and distribution network also broadened. Through Spark Finance’s integration of the Stablecoin FX Layer on Uniswap v4, RLUSD gained additional use cases. The RLUSD-to-USDS trading pair achieved a trading volume of over $600 million in its first week.
