TL;DR
- An Astar report identified approximately 91,000 wallets holding $23.4 billion in stablecoins across Ethereum and Base.
- Of those funds, 92%, or $21.5 billion, remains in traditional stablecoins such as USDT, USDC, and DAI without generating yield.
- Approximately $10.4 billion showed no balance changes for at least 90 days.
An Astar report identified $21.5 billion in stablecoins held outside yield-generating products on Ethereum and Base, spread across tens of thousands of wallets with substantial balances.
The study, based on a snapshot taken in mid-October, examined approximately 91,000 wallets with individual holdings ranging from $50,000 to $2 million. Together, these addresses held $23.4 billion in stablecoins.
Researchers excluded exchanges, bridges, institutions, and smart contracts to focus primarily on regular wallets. The report distinguishes between holding stablecoins without investing them and deploying them into lending positions, vaults, savings products, or tokenized Treasury securities.
Astar Identifies $21.5 Billion Outside Yield-Generating Products
Of the $23.4 billion analyzed, $21.5 billion, or 92%, was held in traditional stablecoins such as USDT, USDC, and DAI.
Only 8.2% of wallets held positions in any of the yield-generating instruments examined. Among addresses holding between $50,000 and $250,000, that proportion was 7.5%, rising to 10.1% for those holding between $250,000 and $2 million.
Most of the capital belonged to larger wallets. Approximately 25,000 addresses held $16.2 billion, while another 66,000 accounted for the remaining $7.2 billion.
Ethereum also dominates the distribution of funds. Although 17% of wallets held stablecoins on Base, the network accounted for just 2% of the capital held in traditional stablecoins.
More Than $10 Billion Remained Unmoved for 90 Days
Astar found that 44% of wallets had not changed their traditional stablecoin balances for 90 days. These addresses held approximately $10.4 billion, nearly half of all funds in that category.
When the period was extended to 180 days, the proportion fell to 33%, representing $7.8 billion in unchanged balances.
Astar clarified that the data cannot determine why users keep these assets uninvested. Possible explanations include the need for immediate liquidity, waiting for investment opportunities, and choosing to avoid risks associated with smart contracts or counterparties.
The study also notes that one person may control multiple wallets and that some addresses may be shared.
Astar Fi, a platform incubated by Astar Collective, allows users to view supported assets across Ethereum, Base, and Robinhood Chain, including stablecoin balances, lending positions, and holdings in yield-generating vaults.
