Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, just minted $1 billion worth of $USDT on the Tron network. This is the first time the company has issued such a large amount in over a month, and it pushes the total circulating supply to about $183 billion, which is over $100 billion more than its closest competitor, USDC.
According to its official transparency page, over $96 billion of the total supply sits on Ethereum, while Tron is a close second with $86 billion.
Tether minted another 1B $USDT on #Tron 6 hours ago.
The circulating supply of $USDT on #Tron has reached 85.3B, far more than on #Ethereum.https://t.co/2wFo2DEvz3 pic.twitter.com/YPmRZ7nFHM
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) March 12, 2026
While moves of this kind don’t usually cause significant volatility in the markets immediately, the firm may be anticipating increased demand for $USDT amid ongoing military tensions worldwide.
The war in Iran has sent massive ripples across the global economy. Just last week, the price of crude oil exploded by more than 30% daily, reaching a high above $120, before plummeting during the same day (and the ones to follow) on subsequent announcements. This had an immediate impact on Bitcoin’s price, which followed suit and also went through extreme volatility.
It’s inevitable that global geopolitical turmoil impacts crypto markets, and while the current move to mint $1 billion $USDT might not lead to an immediate change in pricing, increased liquidity across the board can help the market absorb potential shocks.