Tether USDT Tops Ethereum as Second‑Largest Crypto by Market Value

The stablecoin USDT saw its market capitalization rise to roughly $186 billion, briefly surpassing Ethereum (ETH), whose market cap slipped below $186 billion to about $185.7 billion. ETH’s price fell to around $1,530, its lowest level in 2026, with technical indicators showing oversold conditions (RSI near 30) and a Fear‑and‑Greed Index at 13.

The Ethereum Foundation completed a major restructuring, cutting about 20 % of its staff (54 positions) and slashing the annual budget by roughly 40 %. The organization aims to reduce spending from 15 % to 5 % of its reserves and dissolved the “Privacy and Scaling Explorations” unit while launching a new nonprofit, ETHLabs, to focus research.

Analysts noted the shift reflects a market preference for stable, liquid assets over volatile tokens. Andri Fauzan Adziima of Bitrue Research said the move “shows the market now prefers stability rather than ETH’s volatility.” Circle’s USDC also overtook XRP in market value, underscoring the broader growth of stablecoins.