Less than 10% of stablecoins and tokenized assets are currently deposited in decentralized finance protocols, according to data from Token Terminal. The finding points to a large pool of capital that remains outside lending markets, yield venues and other DeFi applications.

The numbers behind idle stablecoin capital

Stablecoin deposits in DeFi reached $24 billion as of October 25, 2026, Token Terminal reported. That represents roughly 8% of the estimated $298.4 billion stablecoin market, leaving the overwhelming majority of stablecoins outside the protocols designed to put them to work.

Token Terminal estimates the combined market for stablecoins and tokenized assets at approximately $333 billion. DeFi deposits have nevertheless expanded sharply, rising 560.8% over the past three years. The growth suggests that adoption is accelerating, even though the total share of capital entering DeFi remains limited.

The deposited supply is concentrated among a small group of assets. Token Terminal’s dataset covers 193 assets across 31 chains, with the leading positions distributed as follows:

• USDC: 38.2% of DeFi stablecoin deposits, or approximately $9.2 billion
• USDT: 20.3%, or roughly $4.9 billion
• Ethena USDe: 9.0%, or about $2.2 billion

Together, USDC, USDT and USDe account for around two-thirds of the deposits tracked by Token Terminal. Although USDT is generally the larger stablecoin by total supply, USDC holds nearly twice its share of DeFi deposits, indicating a significant difference in how the two assets are used on-chain.

Ethereum leads as Solana takes third

Liquidity remains heavily concentrated by network. Ethereum holds 55.2% of total stablecoin and tokenized-asset deposits, preserving a commanding lead over other chains. Base, Coinbase’s layer-2 network, ranks second with 13.6%, while Solana follows in third place with 6.5%.

Most of the tracked capital is deposited in lending protocols, where users supply assets to earn yield and borrowers access liquidity. Token Terminal also observed modest net outflows from deposits in recent months, suggesting that growth has not been uniform across markets or chains.

What This Means

The data presents both a challenge and an opportunity for DeFi. With more than 90% of stablecoins still outside DeFi, lending protocols and other yield venues have a substantial potential addressable market. If even a small portion of that idle capital moves on-chain, protocol activity and fee revenue could increase.

For Solana, a 6.5% share places the network behind Ethereum and Base but leaves room for expansion. Winning additional stablecoin liquidity will depend on deeper lending markets, competitive yields and reliable applications capable of attracting capital away from Ethereum’s established liquidity base.