gaps

Different Platforms, Different Results

While CMC reported a mcap of $300 billion on Thursday, CoinGecko listed $291 billion and DefiLlama showed $289 billion the following day. The gap comes from divergent methodology. CMC tracks about 150 stablecoins and excludes some as “rehypothecated assets,” while CoinGecko and DefiLlama list nearly 300, using algorithms, outlier filters, and on-chain TVL to refine results.

Comparison of Total stablecoin market capitalization

These different approaches produce significant gaps. CMC does not track Tether Gold (XAUT), a $1.3 billion asset included by CoinGecko, nor does it count the new Sky (USDS) contract, the upgraded version of DAI worth $8.1 billion. Together, those omissions create nearly a $10 billion discrepancy across platforms.

This milestone arrives as stablecoins gain increasing political attention. The market has surged past $200 billion since late 2024, driven primarily by the growth of Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC), and Ethena’s USDe, a new-generation synthetic dollar that provides a native yield.

This growth has caught the attention of policymakers, with the Trump administration’s “Genius Act” in July reportedly aimed at boosting the U.S. dollar’s global standing through stablecoins. Still, ongoing regulatory pushes in Europe and persistent transparency concerns could slow the market’s march toward $400 billion by year-end.

The bigger picture

According to Rafaela Romano of Alphractal, discrepancies “will always exist” because stablecoin supply is harder to track than Bitcoin. CoinMarketCap’s head of research, Alice Liu, added that excluding rehypothecated assets prevents double counting across wrapped tokens, staking derivatives, and complex collateralized structures. Still, the lack of standardization underscores how fragmented reporting remains in this market.

The $300 billion marker is less a definitive number than a signal of momentum. Discrepancies between data providers show the sector’s complexity, but they also highlight the growing weight of stablecoins in global finance, even as mainstream adoption remains just out of reach.

Also read: Bitcoin sharks add 65,000 BTC amid rebound

Outgoing Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson warned that prediction markets pose increasing risks to retail investors. She cited a lack of oversight and regulatory clarity as primary concerns.

In her farewell public address on Wednesday, Johnson voiced concern that some market participants are offering leveraged prediction market contracts to retail investors without clear regulatory boundaries.

“As of today, we have too few guardrails and too little visibility into the prediction market landscape,” she said in a farewell speech at the Brookings Institution. “There is an urgent need for the commission to express in a clear voice our expectations related to these contracts,” she added.

Johnson, appointed to the CFTC in 2022, said she was “deeply disappointed” the agency had failed to implement a rule addressing political event contracts. These contracts, which allow users to bet on outcomes of elections or sports events, have rapidly expanded in popularity and volume.

Related: US regulator opens pathway for Americans to trade on offshore crypto exchanges

Johnson slams license flipping loophole

Johnson also criticized the growing “rent or buy my license” trend in derivatives markets. She said some firms seek licenses for traditional products, then pivot to self-certifying prediction market contracts once approved.

“In other contexts, firms that have received a license quickly auction their newly minted license to others,” she said.

Her remarks echoed broader concerns about consumer protection and market stability. Drawing parallels between the collapse of crypto firms like FTX and the 2008 financial crisis, she argued that governance and risk management failures often follow predictable patterns.

“If we fail to rightly prioritize consumer protection or market stability on the road to capturing the benefits of innovation or growth, the results can be devastating,” Johnson said.

She also warned that poor internal controls and compliance systems remain widespread across newer market entrants, particularly in crypto and now prediction markets. “Innovation and market stability should work together, enabling one to foster the other,” she said.

Related: US Regulators Clarify Rules for Spot Crypto Trading

CFTC grants regulatory relief to Polymarket

Johnson’s warning against prediction markets came as the CFTC issued a no-action letter to QCX LLC and QC Clearing LLC, two entities connected to the prediction market platform Polymarket.

While the decision does not exempt the entities from future compliance, it allows Polymarket to operate event-based markets in the US without immediate regulatory penalties. In July, Polymarket acquired QCEX, a CFTC-licensed exchange and clearinghouse, for $112 million.

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Stablecoin market hits $300B, But Discrepancies Expose Data Gaps

Different Platforms, Different Results

The bigger picture

Kristin Johnson Warns of Retail Risk, Regulatory Gaps in Prediction Markets

Johnson slams license flipping loophole

CFTC grants regulatory relief to Polymarket