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BIS paper finds USDT issuance outpaced smart contract balances on Ethereum
On Ethereum, USDT held by smart contract accounts ranged above 20% in parts of 2021 and 2022, then eased to roughly 10% to 15% as issuance expanded into late 2024.
A Bank for International Settlements working paper published Sept. 15, 2026 found that more USDT was issued over time without a sustained rise in balances held by smart contract accounts on Ethereum, challenging the idea that a larger stablecoin supply automatically translates into more capital flowing into decentralized finance, CryptoSlate reports.
The study also found that on Tron, smart contract accounts held about 1% of USDT through most of the paper's historical series, with the BIS authors tracking where tokens were held rather than identifying why specific holders owned them.
On Ethereum, smart contract accounts held more than 20% of the network's USDT during parts of 2021 and 2022, with their share hovering around 15% to 20% until late 2024 before moving down to roughly 10% to 15% as issuance expanded.
CryptoSlate notes the BIS holder-balance chart stops before 2026 on its date axis, so the percentages in the paper cannot be read as September 2026 measurements, even as some live dashboards show large USDT balances on both networks.
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