Stablecoin Market Cap Surges Past $235 Billion, While Meme Coins Stay Flat – Where Is the Money Hiding?

By: blockbeats|2025/04/07 07:15:03
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Original Article Title: "A Comprehensive Analysis of the Fund Flow Behind the $100 Billion Growth of Stablecoins, Shitcoins Stayed Flat, Where Did the Money Go?"
Original Article Author: Frank, PANews

Since 2024, the global stablecoin market has grown by 80.7% to surpass $235 billion, with USDT and USDC leading the market with a contribution rate of 86% growth. However, it is puzzling that the incremental billions of dollars deposited on the Ethereum and Tron blockchains did not trigger a simultaneous surge in the shitcoin market as in previous cycles. Data shows that for every additional $1 of stablecoin, only $1.5 of shitcoin market cap growth was leveraged in this cycle, an 82% decrease from the previous bull market.

This article will conduct a comprehensive data analysis of stablecoins to interpret the ultimate question brought by stablecoin growth in the crypto space: where did the money go? As exchange balances surge and DeFi protocol TVL rises, the penetration of OTC trading by traditional financial institutions, cross-border payment scenarios, and the currency substitution demand in emerging markets are quietly reshaping the fund flow map of the crypto world.

Stablecoin Market Cap Increases by $100 Billion, Ethereum and Tron Still Contribute 80% of Growth

According to defillama's data, from 2024 to the present, the issuance of stablecoins has increased from $130 billion to $235 billion, representing an overall growth of 80.7%. The primary growth still comes from the two major stablecoins, USDT and USDC.

Stablecoin Market Cap Surges Past 35 Billion, While Meme Coins Stay Flat – Where Is the Money Hiding?

On January 1, 2024, the supply of USDT was $91 billion. By March 31, 2025, the supply had increased to $146 billion, with an increase of approximately $53.6 billion, contributing 51% to the growth rate. Over the same period, USDC's supply increased from $23.8 billion to $60.6 billion, accounting for a growth rate of about 35%. These two stablecoins not only hold an 87% market share but also contribute 86% to the growth.

A closer look at the on-chain data reveals that Ethereum and Tron remain the two blockchains with the largest supply of stablecoins. Ethereum accounts for 53.62% of the stablecoin supply, while Tron's share is approximately 28.37%, totaling 81.99%.

In particular, Ethereum's stablecoin supply increased by approximately $58 billion from January 1, 2024, to April 3, 2025, with a growth rate of 86%, closely mirroring the issuance growth rates of USDT and USDC. Tron's growth rate is about 34%, lagging behind the overall stablecoin growth rate.

The third-ranked public chain is Solana, with a simultaneous increase of 12.5 billion US dollars in circulation, achieving a growth rate of 584.34%. The fourth is Base, which increased by 4 billion US dollars in circulation, with a growth rate of 2316.46%.

Among the top ten, Hyperliquid, TON, and Berachain all started issuing stablecoins only in the past year. These three have added approximately 3.8 billion US dollars in stablecoin issuance, contributing 3.6% to the stablecoin growth share. Overall, Ethereum and Tron still dominate the stablecoin market.

Every Additional $1 of Funding Only Boosts the Market Cap of Shitcoins by $1.5

Although stablecoins have experienced rapid on-chain growth, the simultaneous increase in the market cap of shitcoins has not been ideal,

For comparison, in March 2020, the total market cap of shitcoins was about 39.8 billion US dollars (excluding BTC, ETH), and by May 2021, the shitcoin market cap had risen to 813.5 billion US dollars. This represents an increase of approximately 19.43 times. Over the same period, stablecoin data increased from 6.14 billion to 99.2 billion US dollars, roughly a 15-fold increase, which is largely synchronous. The increases are roughly synchronized.

In this current bull market phase, the overall market cap of stablecoins has increased by 80%, but the overall market cap of shitcoins during the same period has only increased by 38.3%, an increase of approximately 159.9 billion US dollars.

Recapping the period from 2020 to 2021, for every additional $1 of stablecoin issuance, the total market cap of shitcoins increased by $8.3. However, by the period of 2024 to 2025, for each additional $1 of stablecoin issuance, the market cap of shitcoins only increased by $1.5. This significant reduction in ratio indicates that the newly issued stablecoins seem to not have been used to purchase shitcoins.

Where did the money go? This is a key question.

Public Chain Landscape Reshuffle: Ethereum and Tron Hold Their Ground, Solana and Base Drive Growth

Intuitively, during this cycle, the MEME frenzy on Solana has consistently led this round of the bull market. However, during the hype surrounding MEME, the basic pairing used was with SOL, and stablecoins did not have much participation space. Furthermore, based on the earlier analysis, stablecoin growth still mainly remains on Ethereum.

Therefore, to discover where the growth of stablecoins has gone, one would likely still need to analyze the trends of Ethereum or major stablecoins such as USDT and USDC.

Before diving into the analysis, it might be helpful to outline a few possible directions, which are also common speculations in the market regarding the future of stablecoins. For example, stablecoins being used more in payment scenarios, staking rewards, value storage, etc.

Let's first look at the stablecoin transaction situation on Ethereum. From the chart below, we can observe that the stablecoin transaction volume fluctuates in a regular pattern resembling a heartbeat. Behind this fluctuation, there may be a hidden pattern of stablecoin usage.

When we shorten the timeframe, we can significantly see that this fluctuation pattern is a 5+2 pattern, meaning 2 days of low activity followed by 5 days of peak activity. Upon observation, we can see that the trough period occurs over the weekends, and the peak period is generally from Monday to Wednesday, gradually decreasing from Thursday to Friday. This clear pattern of volatility seems to at least indicate that the transaction initiators of these stablecoins primarily come from institutions or enterprises, as if the dominant scenario were consumer payments, this kind of volatility would not likely be present.

Additionally, looking at the daily transaction frequency, the highest peak of daily transfers of USDT on Ethereum does not exceed 300,000 times, and usually, the transfer frequency and average amount on weekends are far lower than on weekdays. This further confirms the above inference.

USDT Flowing into Trading Platforms, USDC Deposited in DeFi Protocols

Looking at the distribution of holdings, in the past year, the balance of USDT on trading platforms has seen a significant increase. On January 1, 2024, the platform balance was 15.2 billion USDT, and by April 2, 2025, this number had grown to 40.9 billion USDT, an increase of 25.7 billion USD, representing a growth rate of 169%. This increase is much higher than the overall stablecoin issuance increase of 80.7%, and accounts for 48% of the USDT issuance increase during the same period.

In other words, in a little over a year, approximately half of the new issuance of USDT has flowed into trading platforms.

However, the situation with USDC during the same period is quite different. On January 1, 2024, the platform holdings of USDC were approximately 2.06 billion USDC, and by April 2, 2025, this number had increased to 4.98 billion USDC. Over the same period, the additional issuance of USDC was 36.8 billion USDC, of which only 7.9% flowed into trading platforms. The overall platform balance ratio is also only 8.5%, significantly lagging behind USDT's 28.4%.

The majority of the additional USDT issuance has flowed into exchanges, while the increased trading volume of USDC has not entered exchanges.

So where has the additional flow of USDC gone? This may partly explain where the funds in the market are flowing.

Looking at it from the perspective of holding addresses, the top USDC holding addresses mainly come from DeFi protocols. Taking Ethereum as an example, the largest USDC holding address is that of Sky (MakerDAO), with a holding of 4.8 billion tokens, accounting for approximately 11.9%. In July 2024, the holding quantity at this address was only 20 million tokens, increasing 229 times in less than a year. Sky's USDC is mainly used as collateral for its stablecoins DAI and USDS. The growth of USDC at this address still represents the growth of DeFi protocol TVL and the demand for stablecoins.

AAVE is the fourth largest holding address of USDC on Ethereum. On January 1, 2024, AAVE's USDC holding was about 45 million tokens, and by March 12, 2025, the highest point, the USDC holding at this address had increased to 1.32 billion tokens, a growth of approximately $1.275 billion, accounting for 7.5% of the new issuance of USDC on Ethereum.

From this perspective, the increase in USDC on Ethereum is mainly due to the growth of staking products. At the beginning of 2024, the total TVL of Ethereum was about $29.7 billion, although it has recently experienced a decline, there is still a stock of $49 billion (the TVL reached $76 billion at its peak). Calculating based on $49 billion, the TVL growth on Ethereum can also reach 64.9%, a growth rate significantly higher than that of altcoins last year and close to the overall stablecoin growth rate.

However, in terms of scale, although the TVL on Ethereum has increased by $19.3 billion, there is still a significant gap compared to the $58 billion growth of Ethereum stablecoins. Apart from the portion of new issuance contributed by exchanges, staking protocols have not fully absorbed this increase in stablecoins.

A New Scenario Emerges: Paradigm Shift from Cross-Border Payments to Institutional Trading

In addition to the growth of DeFi driving the demand for stablecoins, use cases such as consumer payments, cross-border remittances, and over-the-counter institutional trading may also be new sources of demand for stablecoin growth.

According to multiple official Circle sources, the use case of stablecoins is gradually emerging in scenarios such as cross-border remittances and consumer payments. A report by Rise shows that approximately 30% of global remittances are settled using stablecoins, with this proportion being particularly significant in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. Retail and professional-grade stablecoin transfers in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa saw a year-on-year growth of over 40% from July 2023 to June 2024.

Another report by Circle reveals that by 2024, the net amount of USDC minted by Zodia Markets under Standard Chartered Bank had reached $4 billion. (Zodia Markets is an institutional digital asset brokerage firm that offers services such as OTC trading and on-chain FX to global clients).

Furthermore, customers of the Latin American retail payment company Lemon hold over $137 million USDC, with the platform's users predominantly using stablecoins for retail payments.

In addition to the increase in demand due to scenario variations, the different ecosystem structures of various chains have also led to varying stablecoin demands. For example, the MEME craze on the Solana blockchain has driven DEX trading demand. According to PANews' incomplete statistics, the TVL volume of the top 100 USDC trading pairs on the Solana blockchain is approximately $2.2 billion. Following the rule that half of this volume is in USDC, the corresponding locked-in capital is about 1.1 billion USDC, representing 8.8% of the total USDC issued on the Solana blockchain.

The Cryptocurrency Market Shifts from a "Speculative Bubble" to a "Financial Product"

After conducting a breakdown analysis of stablecoins, PANews finds it challenging to pinpoint a single factor driving stablecoin growth. Therefore, it is difficult to answer the question of where the money in the market has gone. Looking back, we may arrive at a series of complex conclusions.

1. While the market cap of stablecoins continues to grow, it seems that these funds have not massively flowed into the altcoin market, igniting the start of an altcoin season.

2. From the Ethereum market perspective, a significant portion of the growth of the primary stablecoin USDT has still flowed into trading platforms, but it appears more likely to have been used to purchase BTC (given the altcoin and Ethereum markets and the platforms' financial products. The remaining growth in demand may have been absorbed by DeFi protocols. Overall, the funds flowing into Ethereum seem to prioritize stable returns from staking and borrowing protocols. The attractiveness of the cryptocurrency market to traditional funds may no longer be wild price swings but rather a new type of financial product.

3. The emergence of new scenarios has led to traditional financial institutions such as Standard Chartered Bank entering the crypto market, making them one of the new drivers of stablecoin demand. Additionally, in underdeveloped regions where infrastructure is lacking and the local currency is unstable, the adoption of stablecoins is becoming increasingly common. However, there is still no comprehensive statistical data on this part, and we do not know the specific share.

4. Stablecoins have different narrative needs on different blockchains. For example, Solana's growth demand may come from the trading frenzy sparked by memes. The growth momentum of new public chains like Hyperliquid, Berachain, and TON has also brought about a certain level of capital demand.

Overall, the undercurrents of this capital migration reveal that the crypto market is undergoing a paradigm shift. Stablecoins have surpassed the boundaries of being mere transactional mediums and have become a value conduit connecting the traditional financial world with the crypto space. On the one hand, meme coins have failed to receive a massive transfusion of funds due to the growth of stablecoins. On the other hand, the financial management needs of institutional funds, the essential need for payments in emerging markets, and the maturity of on-chain financial infrastructure are propelling stablecoins onto a broader stage of value transmission. This may herald that the cryptocurrency market is quietly transitioning from being "speculation-driven" to a historic inflection point of "value accumulation."

Original Article Link

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Never Underestimate the Significance of the US Stablecoin 'Infrastructure Bill'

Original Title: "Never Underestimate the Significance of the US Stablecoin 'Genius Act'"Original Author: 0xTodd, Partner at Nothing Research


If the US stablecoin bill, the "GENIUS Act," passes smoothly this time, its significance will be tremendous. I even think it's significant enough to enter the top five in Crypto history.



Although abbreviated as the GENIUS Act, which translates directly to the Genius Act, it is actually the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins, which translates to "Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Dollar Stablecoins."


The proposal is lengthy, with several key points summarized for everyone:


· Mandatory 1:1 Full Asset Backing: Assets include cash, demand deposits, and short-term US Treasuries. At the same time, misappropriation and rehypothecation are strictly prohibited.


· High-Frequency Disclosure: Reserve reports must be published at least monthly, introducing external audits.


· Licensing Requirement: Once the circulating market cap of the issuer's stablecoin exceeds $100 billion, it must transition into the federal regulatory system within a specified timeframe, adopting banking-grade regulation.


· Introduction of Custody: The custodian of the stablecoin and its reserve assets must be a regulated qualified financial institution.


· Clear Definition as a Payment Medium: The bill explicitly defines stablecoin as a new type of payment medium, primarily regulated by the banking regulatory system, rather than restricted by the securities or commodities regulatory system.


· Embracing Existing Stablecoins: A maximum 18-month grace period after the bill's enactment, aimed at encouraging existing stablecoin issuers (such as USDT, USDC, etc.) to promptly obtain licenses or become compliant.


After finishing the main content, let's talk about the significance of this matter with an excited heart.


Over the years, when others asked, "After working in the Crypto industry for 16 years, what application have you created?"


In the future, you can confidently tell others—Stablecoins.


First, Clearing Concerns is a Prerequisite


Some people have held opposing views. In the past, people's impression of stablecoins was that they were an opaque black box. Every few months, there would be FUD — whether Tether's assets were frozen or Circle had a significant black hole deficit.


In fact, if you think about it, Tether easily rakes in billions of dollars a year just from the interest on those underlying government bonds. Circle, slightly less, also made a $1.7 billion profit last year.


They basically made money while standing there. From a motivational standpoint, they have no malicious intentions. In fact, they are the most eager for compliance.


Now, this opaque black box will become a transparent white box.


In the past, the only complaint was that Tether's funds might have been frozen by the United States. Now, they will be directly placed into U.S. compliant custodial institutions, with high-frequency disclosures, so you can rest assured.


【No need to worry about a rug pull】 is such a huge advantage—I think especially all Crypto people understand this.


Second, Mastering the Standard is Very Important


Stablecoins were once almost on the verge of being overtaken by CBDCs. In any country, if a central bank digital currency really exists, it is highly likely not built on a blockchain, at most it is built on some internal central bank consortium chain, which to be honest, is meaningless.


When CBDCs were at their peak, that was the most dangerous time for stablecoins.


If CBDCs had become a reality back then, stablecoins today would have been relentlessly suppressed into a dark corner, and blockchain would only be able to play a minimal role.


The remaining half-dead stablecoins would even have to learn the standards of central bank digital currencies, completely relinquishing their standard-setting power.


And now, stablecoins have won (or are about to).


Instead, everyone should learn the 【Blockchain + Token】 standard.


Nowadays, many blockchains actually have no meaningful applications on top, only stablecoin transfers. For example, with Aptos, the only scenario I use Aptos for is transfers between Binance and OKX.


And now, stablecoins will be legislated, what does that mean?


That's right, blockchain will become the only standard.


In the future, every stablecoin user will be the first to learn how to use a wallet.


As an aside, I actually think Ethereum's concerted push for EIP-7702 is quite forward-thinking. While other chains are all about memes, thank you Ethereum for sticking to account abstraction.



EIP-7702 is about Account Abstraction, which can support, for example:


· Social Account Registration Wallet

· Paying GAS with Native Coin

· And more


This paves the way for future new users to heavily use stablecoins, solving the last-mile problem.


Third, Deposit Enters a New Era


Furthermore, once stablecoins receive legislative support, deposits and withdrawals will become even easier.


Let's imagine a scenario: previously, hindered by the gray nature of stablecoins, but after the bill passes, many traditional brokerages can support stablecoins themselves. The money from a US stock investor can be converted into stablecoins in minutes and instantly deposited into Coinbase. Believe it or not.



Let's imagine another scenario: if the brilliant bill smoothly passes through the House of Representatives, next, you will see:


Due to the extremely lucrative nature of this trading, existing stablecoin leaders and newly entering traditional giants will crazily start promoting their stablecoin products.


And an outsider, due to these promotions, will start using stablecoins. And then one day, after finding out that the wallet account has been created, will explore Bitcoin inside. Is mining Bitcoin difficult?


Stablecoins are a huge Trojan horse. The moment you start using stablecoins, you unwittingly step half a foot into the Crypto world.


Fourth, Conclusion


As a large reservoir for digesting US debt, although stablecoins cannot directly absorb debt, they at least provide ammunition for the US debt secondary market. These functions are quite important, and slowly, stablecoins are becoming a part of the US debt market's body. Therefore, once the US legislation is passed and experiences the benefits, there is no turning back.


And, we are also confident that stablecoins are indeed one of the great innovations in our industry. People who have used stablecoins will find it hard to return to the traditional cash-banking system.


Once the bill is passed, users can't go back. In the future, concerns are about to be resolved, standards will be mastered, and the era of large deposits seems to be on the horizon.


Original Article Link

$COIN Joins S&P 500, but Coinbase Isn't Celebrating

On May 13, S&P Dow Jones Indices announced that Coinbase would officially replace Discover Financial Services in the S&P 500 on May 19. While other companies like Block and MicroStrategy, closely tied to Bitcoin, were already part of the S&P 500, Coinbase became the first cryptocurrency exchange whose primary business is in the index. This also signifies that cryptocurrency is gradually moving from the fringes to the mainstream in the U.S.



On the day of the announcement, Coinbase's stock price surged by 23%, surpassing the $250 mark. However, just 3 days later, Coinbase was hit by two consecutive events: a hack where employees were bribed to steal customer data and a demand for a $20 million ransom, and an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) into the authenticity of its claim of having over 100 million "verified users" in its securities filings and marketing materials. These two events acted as mini-bombs, and at the time of writing, Coinbase's stock had already dropped by over 7.3%.


Coincidentally, Discover Financial Services, being replaced by Coinbase, can also be considered the "Coinbase" of the previous payment era. Discover is a U.S.-based digital banking and payment services company headquartered in Illinois, founded in 1960. Its payment network, Discover Network, is the fourth largest payment network apart from Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.


In April, after the approval of the acquisition of Discover by the sixth-largest U.S. bank, Capital One, this well-established digital banking company of over 60 years smoothly handed over its S&P 500 "seat" to this emerging cryptocurrency "bank." This unexpected coincidence also portrayed the handover between the new and old eras in Coinbase's entry into the S&P 500, resembling a relay race scene. However, this relay baton also brought Coinbase's accumulated "external troubles and internal strife" to a tipping point.


Side Effects of ETFs


Over the past decade, cryptocurrency exchanges have been the most stable "profit machines." They play a role in providing liquidity to the entire industry and rely on trading fees to sustain their operations. However, with the comprehensive rollout of ETF products in the U.S. market, this profit model is facing unprecedented challenges. As the leader in the "American stack," with over 80% of its business coming from the U.S., Coinbase is most affected by this.



Starting from the approval of Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs, traditional financial capital has significantly onboarded users and funds that originally belonged to exchanges in a more cost-effective, compliant, and transparent manner. The transaction fee revenue of cryptocurrency exchanges has started to decline, and this trend may further intensify in the coming months.


According to Coinbase's 2024 Q4 financial report, the platform's total trading revenue was $417 million, a 45% year-on-year decrease. The contribution of BTC and ETH's trading revenue dropped from 65% in the same period last year to less than 50%.


This decline is not a result of a decrease in market enthusiasm. In fact, since the approval of the Bitcoin ETF in January 2024, the inflow of BTC into the U.S. market has continued to reach new highs, with asset management giants like BlackRock and Fidelity rapidly expanding their management scale. Data shows that BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) alone has surpassed $17 billion in assets under management. As of mid-May 2025, the cumulative net inflow of 11 major institutional Bitcoin spot ETFs on the market has exceeded $41.5 billion, with a total net asset value of $1214.69 billion, accounting for approximately 5.91% of the total Bitcoin market capitalization.


Chart showing the trend of net outflows for Grayscale among the 11 institutions


Institutional investors and some retail investors are shifting towards ETF products, partly due to compliance and tax considerations. On one hand, ETFs have much lower trading costs compared to cryptocurrency exchanges. While Coinbase's spot trading fee rate varies annually in a tiered manner but averages around 1.49%, for example, the management fee for IBIT ETF is only 0.25%, and the majority of ETF institution fees fluctuate around 0.15% to 0.25%.



In other words, the more rational users are, the more likely they are to move from exchanges to ETF products, especially for investors aiming for long-term holdings.


According to multiple sources, several institutions, including VanEck and Grayscale, have submitted applications to the SEC for a Solana (SOL) ETF, with some institutions also planning to submit an XRP ETF proposal. Once approved, this may trigger a new round of fund migration. According to a report submitted by Coinbase to the SEC, as of April, the platform's trading revenue from XRP and Solana accounted for 18% and 10%, nearly one-third of the platform's fee revenue.



However, the Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs passed in 2024 also reduced the fees for these two tokens on Coinbase from 30% and 15% to 26% and 10%, respectively. If the SOL and XRP ETFs are approved, it will further undermine the core fee revenue of exchanges like Coinbase.


The expansion of ETF products is gradually weakening the financial intermediary status of cryptocurrency exchanges. From their original roles as matchmakers and clearers to now gradually becoming mere "on-ramps and off-ramps" for funds, exchanges are seeing their marginal value squeezed by ETFs.


Robinhood Takes a Stand, Traditional Brokerages Join the Fray


On May 12, 2025, SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins gave a keynote speech at the Tokenization and Cryptocurrency Working Group roundtable. The theme of his speech revolved around "It is a new day at the SEC," where he indicated that the SEC would not approach enforcement and regulation the same way as before but would instead pave the way for cryptocurrency assets in the U.S. market.



With signs of cryptocurrency compliance such as the SEC's "NEW DAY" declaration, an increasing number of traditional brokerages are attempting to enter the cryptocurrency industry. One of the most representative cases is the well-known U.S. brokerage Robinhood, which began expanding its crypto business in 2018. By the time of its IPO in 2021, Robinhood's crypto business revenue accounted for over 50% of the company, with a significant boost from the Dogecoin "moonshot" promoted by Musk.


In Q1 2025 earnings report, Robinhood showcased strong growth, especially in revenue from cryptocurrency and options trading. Fueled by Trump's Memecoin, cryptocurrency-related revenue reached $250 million, nearly doubling year-over-year. Consequently, Robinhood Gold subscription users reached 3.5 million, a 90% increase from the previous year, with the rapid growth of Robinhood Gold providing the company with a stable source of income.



Meanwhile, RobinHood is actively pursuing acquisitions in the cryptocurrency space. In 2024, it announced a $2 billion acquisition of the long-standing European cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp. Additionally, Canada's largest cryptocurrency CEX, WonderFi, which recently went public on the Toronto Stock Exchange, also announced its integration with RobinHood Crypto. After obtaining virtual asset licenses in the UK, Canada, Singapore, and other markets, RobinHood has taken a proactive approach in the compliant cryptocurrency trading market.



Furthermore, an increasing number of brokerage firms are exploring the same path. Futu Securities, Tiger Brokers, and others are also dipping their toes into cryptocurrency trading, with some having applied for or obtained the VA license from the Hong Kong SFC. Although their user bases are currently small, traditional brokerages have a natural advantage in user trust, regulatory licenses, and low fee structures. This could pose a threat to native cryptocurrency platforms in the future.



User Data Breach: Is Coinbase Still Secure?


In April 2025, security researchers discovered that some Coinbase user data was leaked on the dark web. While the platform initially responded by attributing it to a "technical misinformation," it still raised concerns among users regarding its security and privacy protection. Just two days before Dow Jones Indexes announced Coinbase's addition to the S&P 500 Index, on May 11, 2025, Coinbase received an email from an unknown threat actor claiming to have obtained customer account information and internal documents, demanding a $20 million ransom to keep the data private. Subsequent investigations confirmed the data breach.


Cybercriminals obtained the data by bribing overseas customer service agents and support staff, mainly in "non-U.S. regions such as India." These agents abused their access to Coinbase's internal customer support system and stole customer data. As early as February this year, blockchain detective ZachXBT revealed on X platform that between December 2024 and January 2025, Coinbase users lost over $65 million to social engineering scams, with the actual amount potentially higher.


Among the victims was a well-known figure, 67-year-old Ed Suman, an established artist in the art world for nearly two decades, having been involved in the creation of artworks such as Jeff Koons' "Balloon Dog" sculpture. Earlier this year, he fell victim to an impersonation scam involving fake Coinbase customer support, resulting in a loss of over $2 million in cryptocurrency. ZachXBT critiqued Coinbase for its inadequate handling of such scams, noting that other major exchanges have not faced similar issues and recommending Coinbase to enhance its security measures.


Amidst a series of ongoing social engineering incidents, although there has not been any impact on user assets at the technical level so far, it has raised concerns among many retail and institutional investors. Especially institutions holding massive assets on Coinbase. Just considering the U.S. BTC ETF institutions, as of mid-May 2025, they collectively hold nearly 840,000 BTC, and 75% of these are custodied by Coinbase. If we price BTC at $100,000, this amount reaches a staggering $63 billion, which is equivalent to the nominal GDP of two Iceland in the year 2024.


Visualization: ChatGPT, Source: Farside


In addition, Coinbase Custody also serves over 300 institutional clients, including hedge funds, family offices, pension funds, and endowments. As of the Q1 2025 financial report, Coinbase's total assets under management (including institutional and retail clients) reached $404 billion. The specific amount of institutional custodied assets was not explicitly disclosed in the latest report, but it should still be over 50% based on the Q4 2024 report.


Visualization: ChatGPT


Once this security barrier is breached, not only could the rate of user attrition far exceed expectations, but more importantly, institutional trust in it would undermine the foundation of its business. Therefore, after a hacking event, Coinbase's stock price plummeted significantly.


CEXs are All in Self-Rescue Mode


Facing a decline in spot trading fee revenue, Coinbase is also accelerating its transformation, attempting to find growth opportunities in derivatives and emerging assets. Coinbase acquired a stake in the options platform Deribit at the end of 2024 and announced the official launch of perpetual contract products in 2025. This acquisition fills in Coinbase's gap in options trading and its relatively small global market share.



Deribit has a strong presence in non-U.S. markets, especially in Asia and Europe. The acquisition has enabled Coinbase to gain a dominant position in bitcoin and ethereum options trading on Deribit, accounting for approximately 80% of the global options trading volume, with daily trading volume remaining above $2 billion.


Meanwhile, 80-90% of Deribit's customer base consists of institutional investors, with their professionalism and liquidity in the Bitcoin and Ethereum options market highly favored by institutions. Coinbase's compliance advantage, coupled with its already robust institutional ecosystem, makes it even more suitable. By using institutions as an entry point, it can face the squeeze from giants like Binance and OKX in the derivatives market.



Facing a similar dilemma is Kraken, which is attempting to replicate Binance Futures' model in non-U.S. markets. Since the derivatives market relies more on professional users, fee rates are relatively higher and stickiness is stronger, making it a significant source of revenue for exchanges. In the first half of 2025, Kraken completed the acquisition of TradeStation Crypto and a futures exchange, aiming to build a complete derivatives trading ecosystem to hedge the risk of declining spot transaction fee income.


With the surge of Memecoin in 2024, Binance, OKX, and various CEX platforms began massively listing small-market-cap, highly volatile tokens to activate active trading users. Due to the wealth effect and trading activity of Memecoins, Coinbase was also forced to join the battle, successively listing popular tokens from the Solana ecosystem such as BOOK OF MEME and Dogwifhat. Although these coins are controversial, they are frequently traded, with fee rates several times higher than mainstream coins, serving as a "blood-boosting" method for spot trading.


However, due to its status as a publicly traded company, this practice is a riskier endeavor for Coinbase. Even in the current crypto-friendly environment, the SEC is still investigating whether tokens like SOL, ADA, and SAND constitute securities.


In addition to the forced transformation strategies carried out by the aforementioned CEXs, they are also starting to lay out RWAs and the most talked-about stablecoin payment fields, such as the PYUSD launched through a collaboration between Coinbase and Paypal, Coinbase's support for the Euro stablecoin EURC by Circle that complies with EU MiCA regulatory requirements, or the USD1 launched through a collaboration between Binance and WIFL. In the increasingly crowded trading field, many CEXs have shifted their focus from just the trading market to the application field.


The golden age of transaction fees has quietly ended, and the second half of the crypto exchange platform game has silently begun.


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