Inside Ethereum’s hidden liquidity imbalance that can break its economic model

• Ethereum is going through a rising structural problem that few are brazenly discussing. 
• Who actually units the principles when the cash isn’t native?

Ethereum [ETH] is at present the spine for an enormous chunk of crypto’s monetary exercise. 

Proper now, there’s over $127 billion in stablecoins sitting on the community, with Tether [USDT] making up greater than 50% of that. That’s actual, on-chain liquidity being put to work throughout DeFi, staking, and yield farming.

However a better look reveals a rising disconnect.

The stablecoin layer is rising a lot quicker than ETH’s personal market worth. If this imbalance continues, may Ethereum fail to uphold the decentralization it was initially designed to ensure?

Ethereum’s financial mannequin faces a scaling paradox

Ethereum entered 2025 with $110 billion in stablecoins circulating on-chain. Now, heading into the second half of the 12 months, that quantity has surged to $127 billion. That’s a hefty $17 billion improve in simply six months.

Notably, $64.36 billion of that provide comes from USDT alone, representing 40.36% of Tether’s whole $160 billion market cap. However that may simply be the start.

Supply: DeFiLlama

Wanting forward, JPMorgan projects the stablecoin market may scale to $500 billion by 2028. As that capital scales, Ethereum’s position as the first settlement layer is more likely to deepen.

Nevertheless, that is the place a structural imbalance begins to emerge.

Ethereum started 2025 with a $400 billion market cap, but that determine has slid to $304 billion at press time. In distinction, the USDT provide has climbed by roughly 15.45% over the identical interval.

This hole raises issues. If Ethereum’s native asset doesn’t develop with the worth it secures, its proof-of-stake system may weaken. In flip, making the community extra depending on exterior, centralized capital.

As stablecoins rise, does ETH’s management slip?

Think about USDC, which already performs a key position in Ethereum’s DeFi stack. 

Protocols like Aave and Compound depend on it as core collateral. In the meantime, DAOs, merchants, and establishments use it to maneuver capital, handle treasuries and earn yield. All this exercise helps gasoline Ethereum’s proof-of-stake system.

However the catch is, that liquidity is essentially managed by centralized issuers. In USDC’s case, that’s Circle.

And whereas stablecoin provide continues to climb, ETH-denominated DeFi quantity has dropped to $6.8 billion, down from a $30 billion excessive earlier this 12 months, highlighting a structural imbalance in Ethereum’s financial mannequin.

Supply: DeFiLlama

This divergence indicators a crucial shift: Capital is flowing into steady, externally ruled belongings somewhat than Ethereum’s native token. 

Extra customers are leaning on stablecoins to lend, stake, and transfer capital, whereas skipping over ETH solely. 

Consequently, ETH’s demand slips, decentralization will get tougher to maintain, and the market cap begins feeling the stress.

With capital favoring stability over the asset that secures the chain, Ethereum could also be going through the early indicators of a deeper structural shift.