USDT’s grip on Asia-Pacific stablecoin payments loosens to 91%

Tether’s USDT still runs the stablecoin payments show in Asia-Pacific. It just runs slightly less of it than before.

A CoinDesk Research report found that USDT’s share of identified stablecoin payment volume in the region fell from 98% in early 2025 to 91% as of July 2026. The cause is not a collapse. It is a slow migration toward stablecoins built around compliance and regulatory approval, with Ripple’s RLUSD cited as an example.

What the numbers show

Ripple commissioned the report, and CoinDesk Research published it on September 15, 2026. Updates on RLUSD’s growth followed through early October 2026.

The headline finding is about geography. Asia-Pacific accounted for 51.2% of global identified stablecoin payment volume in the dataset, totaling $30.9 billion.

That volume moved across 426 corridors in 28 countries.

Within that regional market, USDT’s share dropped 7 percentage points over roughly a year and a half. A 91% share is still dominant, but it means 9% of identified volume now flows through other stablecoins, up from just 2% in early 2025.

The report also broke down what the payments were for. Business-to-business transactions made up 37.1% of Asia-Pacific stablecoin payment volume in the first half of 2026.

The compliance pitch

The research frames USDT’s slide as part of a broader diversification. Institutions, it argues, increasingly favor stablecoins that emphasize compliance, transparency and regulatory integration, rather than choosing based on liquidity alone.

RLUSD is pitching a different value proposition. The Ripple-issued stablecoin gained regulatory clearance in Japan as a new electronic payment instrument. It is now distributed through SBI VC Trade.

One caveat worth flagging: the report was commissioned by Ripple, the company behind RLUSD. That does not invalidate the data, but readers should weigh the framing around compliance-focused stablecoins with that relationship in mind. The research also does not specify how much of USDT’s lost share went to RLUSD specifically versus other alternatives.

What this means for the stablecoin market

Investors and traders should watch three things. First, whether the non-USDT share keeps growing in future data or stalls near current levels. Second, whether RLUSD and similar tokens secure approvals in other Asia-Pacific jurisdictions beyond Japan. Third, whether the B2B share of volume rises, which would suggest corporates are leaning further into stablecoin rails.