# ReDeFining DeFi, 301040

*Stablecoin Issuers*

By [Coin Kotei](https://paragraph.com/@coinkotei) · 2025-01-05

defi, stablecoin

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Let's continue the series with a closer look at the next sub-sector, stablecoin issuers.

**_301040, Stablecoin Issuers  
_Definition**: Protocols managing the issuance and governance of stablecoins.

It is worth noting that nearly every protocol in this category is pursuing a broader mission than the core definition, particularly around lending/borrowing operations and other DeFi use cases, thus again making a strong argument for creating a broader 3010 Sectoral overview for projects which are active in multiple DeFi verticals, but not strictly focused on one.

The combined sub-sector Market Cap stood at $5,667m as of 01/01/2025, up c. 39% from $4,091m as of 01/01/2024, compared to c. 97% growth in the total crypto Market Cap over the course of 2024. Notably, two of the tokens included below have not been trading in January 2024, with one only on the market for a few weeks, so their base values are the most recent ones available. Without $ENA and its c. $1.5b+ value creation, the sub-sector would've only seen c. 1% growth in 2024.

Below is the proposed composition of the 301040 sub-sector, from largest to smallest by market cap, having reviewed 400+ projects throughout the past few weeks from both the context-of-use and exchange accessibility perspectives:

1.  **$ENA**  
    A crypto-native solution for money that is not reliant on traditional banking system infrastructure, synthetic dollar ($USDe) with Internet Native Yield in their own words. A new category leader after years of Maker dominance in the alternative stablecoin space with c. 47% share.  
    **Market Cap:** $2,667m  
    **2024:** +138% (from 02/04/24)
    
2.  **$MKR**  
    An ecosystem of OG products, incl. Spark lending protocol and $USDS stablecoin (ex-DAI), all tied by $SKY governance token (ex-MKR). One $MKR is c. 24k $SKY following an optional rebrand in late Summer 2024.  
    **Market Cap:** $1,330m  
    **2024:** -15%
    
3.  **$RSR**  
    A permissionless platform for anyone to create, own, and govern DTFs (Decentralised Token Folios) – native token supports the protocol's stablecoin issuance and other systems  
    **Market Cap:** $711m  
    **2024:** +335%
    
4.  **$USUAL**  
    A secure and decentralised fiat-backed stablecoin issuer ($USD0) that redistributes value and ownership through its native token  
    **Market Cap:** $441m  
    **2024:** -2% (from 18/12/24)
    
5.  **$FXS**  
    A governance and value accrual token for Frax Protocol, tightly coupled with its stablecoin operations (old $FRAX, now $frxUSD). Rebranding $FXS to $FRAX in what is a fairly popular move in this sub-sector.  
    **Market Cap:** $303m  
    **2024:** -54%
    
6.  **$SPELL**  
    A native governance token that supports the $MIM stablecoin  
    **Market Cap:** $114m  
    **2024:** +38%
    
7.  **$FORTH**  
    A governance token used to run the Ampleforth Protocol and its DAO, issuers of $AMPL  
    **Market Cap:** $54m  
    **2024:** +54%
    
8.  **$SPA**  
    An auto-yield protocol running issuance of $USDs, and tightly coupled with its native token  
    **Market Cap:** $28m  
    **2024:** 146%
    
9.  **$THL**  
    Creators of Move Dollar ($MOD), backed by both native and on-chain assets, governed by its native protocol token  
    **Market Cap:** $21m  
    **2024:** +22%
    

Let us also explore what the composition of the sub-sector looks like as of today as we prepare for a longer-form analysis of the 2024 performance for this and the other DeFi sub-sectors in search of fundamental indicators of outperformance and underperformance alike.

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/45d55eed00ca1919a669a7882fa0e602.png)

301040 Stablecoin Issuers as of 01/01/2025

There have been notable changes and movements in the sub-sector in 2024, particularly for newcomers $ENA and OGs from $RSR. $MKR used to comfortably maintain its dominance over the sub-sector, but is now facing stiff competition on the back of an uncertain outlook post-rebrand. Curious drop in value for $FXS, even on the back of Blackrock partnership news in Q4, and a surprisingly underwhelming year for the rest, which is not $USUAL.

We will explore various possible reasons for such outcomes in the 2024 DeFi Report. Now, onto the next sub-sector classification – 301050 Prediction Markets, a relatively small sub-sector, but with the likes of Polymarket getting a lot of US election-related attention and Myriad coming to market soon it's bound to look very different by the end of this year – a prediction in its own right.

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Sources:

*   [https://coinmetrics.io/datonomy/](https://coinmetrics.io/datonomy/)
    
*   [https://coinmetrics.substack.com/p/state-of-the-network-issue-180](https://coinmetrics.substack.com/p/state-of-the-network-issue-180)
    
*   [https://coinmetrics.io/special-insights/trusted-exchange-framework/](https://coinmetrics.io/special-insights/trusted-exchange-framework/)
    
*   [https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories/stablecoin-protocol](https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories/stablecoin-protocol)
    
*   [https://defillama.com/](https://defillama.com/)
    
*   Coin Kotei Analysis

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*Originally published on [Coin Kotei](https://paragraph.com/@coinkotei/redefining-defi-301040)*