Will USDD be entering the stablecoin race? Its Q1 performance suggests…

• USDD showed improvements despite the turbulence faced by stablecoins in the market.
• However, the stablecoin continued to lag behind in terms of market cap.

The stablecoin market has suffered a lot of turbulence over the quarter, partly due to the fall of the Silicon Valley Bank. With multiple stablecoins, such as USD Coin [USDC] and Maker [DAI] seeing uncertainty, Tron’s stablecoin, USDD, witnessed positive improvements in the stablecoin sector.

This was indicated by the high number of addresses holding USDD and showing conviction in the stablecoin.

In Q1, despite the market and price fluctuations, the number of individuals who owned USDD on Tron remained slightly above 130,000. In its brief history, Q1 2023 witnessed the smallest transaction volume of USDD on Tron in terms of both the number of transactions and overall volume.

This decrease in transaction volume may reflect the comparatively low price volatility of USDD in Q1. In contrast, previous quarters saw a surge in the stablecoin’s volume during periods of uncertainty and de-pegging.

A large part of the volume on the stablecoin was coming from DEXs such as Uniswap [UNI], Paraswap, and Curve [CRV]. According to Dune Analytics’ data, Uniswap was responsible for 85.9% of all USDD volume.

Although USDD’s holders displayed confidence in the stablecoin, it could not fully maintain a peg to the value of the U.S. dollar.

According to Messari’s data, at the beginning of Q1, as the market rebounded, and USDD re-established its peg to the U.S. dollar. However, worries in the market about USDC de-pegging resulted in greater instability among stablecoins, including USDD.

In the week beginning from March 10, the Tron-based stablecoin saw its largest daily trading range since its launch. As the volatility eased, USDD returned to a narrow range, although still marginally below its peg.

Compared to other stablecoins, USDD still had a long way to go. In terms of volume, USDC had captured 63.8% of the market at press time. Tether [USDT] was a close second with 24.5% of the overall market share, leaving USDD behind in this area.

In terms of market cap, however, USDC continued to decline as USDT took up its share. USDD’s market cap, however, remained stable during this period.