• Blockchain payments firm Orbital has revealed that USDT on the TRON network makes up 98% of all payments processed by its clients as the stablecoin’s dominance continues to grow.
• USDT’s appeal is strongest in emerging markets for its low fees, instant settlement and easy access to the USD, which for most users, is the greatest hedge against runaway inflation.

USDT is the world’s largest stablecoin, and while it’s just a tool for trade on exchanges for many in the developing world, it’s so much more in the emerging markets. According to data from blockchain payments firm Orbital, USDT has become the lifeblood of millions of businesses, and TRON has emerged as the most popular network of deployment.

Historically, emerging markets in Asia, Africa, and Latin America have lacked affordable, fast, and accessible payment methods. Global networks like Mastercard and Visa have struggled in such markets and have been forced to integrate local payment mechanisms for almost every country, hiking the cost of operations and, ultimately, making them too expensive for small businesses.

Crypto has been a welcome solution. As shown by the Chainalysis study below, 9 of the top 10 crypto adopters globally are emerging markets, with the US as the only exception.

However, most tokens are restricted in payments by high fees and slow transactions—Bitcoin, for instance, costs $2 per transaction today and takes several minutes for confirmation.

According to Orbital, stablecoins have plugged that gap, and today, they account for the largest share of crypto payments in emerging markets.

USDT on TRON Dominates 98% of Stablecoin Payments

USDT has maintained its position as the largest stablecoin, and its deployment on the TRON network is the highest by a distance. Orbital found that while USDT on Ethereum only accounts for 2.12%, TRON controls 97.62% of the stablecoin’s distribution in emerging markets.

Orbital concluded that “it is abundantly clear that users in emerging markets firmly favor transacting in USDT specifically on the TRON blockchain.”

The payment firm added:

 We strongly recommend all merchants and international businesses looking to make or receive payments to/from users in any emerging markets around the world to offer USDT on the TRON blockchain to meet the demands of consumers in those countries.

One key reason that TRON has beaten Ethereum in the stablecoin market is its speed. A TRON transaction takes three seconds on average. The network can scale to handle 2,000 transactions per second, comfortably beating Ethereum on both fronts, despite the top altcoin’s migration to proof of stake. For payments, speed is critical as most sales need to be completed immediately for the merchants to serve other customers.

TRON, despite not getting the limelight, is significantly more popular on the transactions front than Ethereum, even beyond the stablecoin market. Data from Token Terminal shows that since overtaking Ethereum in 2021, TRON has had a massive lead in the daily active users (DAU) charts. As of April this year, TRON averaged around two million DAU, while Ethereum was consistently below 500,000.

Meanwhile, TRON trades at $0.127, dipping 1.5% in the past day for an $11 billion market cap.

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