- Peter Schiff predicts Tether will eventually surpass Bitcoin and Ethereum.
- Tether’s $187.35B market cap now sits just $28.68B below ETH’s $216.03B valuation.
- Bitcoin remains far ahead at $1.286 trillion, meaning USDT would need to expand nearly 6.9x.
Peter Schiff has spent years arguing against Bitcoin, and his latest prediction is not about gold or interest rates but about stablecoins.
The economist and long-time Bitcoin critic says Tether’s market capitalization will eventually surpass both Ethereum and Bitcoin. In his view, the real growth story in crypto is no longer speculative assets but digital dollars moving through payment networks, settlement systems, and global commerce.
Tether Is Within Striking Distance of Ethereum
Bitcoin remains the largest crypto asset with a market capitalization of $1.286 trillion. Ethereum ranks second at $216.03 billion, and Tether is now worth $187.35 billion. This leaves a gap of just $28.68 billion between Ethereum and Tether.
At current levels, USDT would need to grow about 15.3% to match Ethereum’s market value if ETH remains unchanged.
The gap looks even smaller when viewed through the circulating supply. Tether has 187.52 billion USDT in circulation, while Ethereum’s circulating supply stands at 120.68 million ETH.
For years, Ethereum maintained a large lead over every stablecoin. The lead has narrowed dramatically as demand for digital dollars has accelerated.
If stablecoin growth continues at its current pace while Ethereum struggles to regain momentum, Tether moving into the number two spot becomes a realistic scenario rather than a theoretical one.
Why Stablecoins Are Growing Faster
The growth driver is usage. Stablecoins are increasingly being used for payments, remittances, treasury operations, settlements, and cross-border transfers.
Reports indicate Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, and Coinbase are working on a stablecoin initiative that could challenge existing issuers such as Tether and Circle. Mastercard has also expanded support for blockchain-based settlement systems.
However, this change is not limited to the United States. Institutional stablecoin transactions are growing across the UAE. Hong Kong has launched stablecoin licensing frameworks. South Korean banks are exploring won-backed stablecoins. Financial groups in Japan and Singapore are developing similar products.
According to industry estimates, roughly 10% of remittance flows from the United States to India and Mexico are already moving through dollar-backed stablecoins. Large trade corridors across Asia are also seeing increasing stablecoin settlement activity.
Is Schiff’s Prediction Possible?
Surpassing Ethereum is one thing. However, surpassing Bitcoin is another. Bitcoin’s market capitalization currently sits at $1.286 trillion, compared with Tether’s $187.35 billion.
The difference is approximately $1.099 trillion. For USDT to match Bitcoin’s current size, it would need to expand nearly 6.9 times from today’s level.
This would require an enormous expansion of stablecoin adoption across global payments, banking, commerce, and financial markets. The math shows that overtaking Ethereum is a near-term possibility.
On the other hand, overtaking Bitcoin would require a much larger transformation of the global financial system.
Related: Peter Schiff Calls Bitcoin a Bubble After Trump Crypto Push Amid Strategy Sale Debate
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