{"id":14288,"date":"2026-10-09T14:13:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T14:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=14288"},"modified":"2026-10-09T14:13:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T14:13:11","slug":"polygons-8-million-usdt0-holders-face-scrutiny-as-58-of-growth-matches-scam-patterns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=14288","title":{"rendered":"Polygon&#8217;s 8 million USDT0 holders face scrutiny as 58% of growth matches scam patterns"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-cs-editorial-figure-scope=\"\" data-cs-editorial-quote-scope=\"\" data-cs-image-viewer-scope=\"\" data-single-article-content=\"\">\n<p>Polygon&#8217;s surging USDT0 holder count masks shrinking balances and suspected scam activity amid its broader push into stablecoin payments.<\/p>\n<p>An Oct. 7 investigation by blockchain analytics firm Bitquery found that addresses matching scam patterns accounted for 58% of the net growth in Polygon&#8217;s USDT0 holders since August 2025, raising questions about the quality of adoption figures promoted by the network.<\/p>\n<p>The findings challenge Polygon&#8217;s recent celebration of surpassing 8.1 million USDT0 holder addresses, the highest among blockchains included in a Token Terminal comparison.<\/p>\n<p>According to Bitquery, roughly 998,000 of the 1.71 million addresses added over the preceding 13 months exhibited patterns associated with address-poisoning scams.<\/p>\n<p>The growth came as USDT0 supply on Polygon fell 41%, from $1.35 billion to $798 million. Addresses holding at least $10 also declined 42%, from approximately 1.24 million to 720,000.<\/p>\n<p>Bitquery found that 48% of holders controlled less than one cent, while 65% had neither sent nor received the token during the preceding year.<\/p>\n<p>The investigation also identified approximately 1.42 million addresses matching an address-poisoning pattern, with sample-based verification supporting an estimate of 1.1 million scam look-alikes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter shoggoth-infographic shoggoth-infographic-portrait wp-image-570288\" src=\"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/exec-30b6ca46-d074-4043-a062-2381c6aaa81f.png\" alt=\"Bitquery comparison from Aug. 27, 2025 to Oct. 7, 2026: holder addresses rose 27%, estimated addresses holding $10 or more fell 42%, and Polygon token supply fell 41%. Poisoning-pattern addresses accounted for 58% of net holder growth; about 1.1 million look-alikes are estimated.\" width=\"720\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/exec-30b6ca46-d074-4043-a062-2381c6aaa81f.png 1122w, https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/exec-30b6ca46-d074-4043-a062-2381c6aaa81f-240x300.png 240w, https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/exec-30b6ca46-d074-4043-a062-2381c6aaa81f-819x1024.png 819w, https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/exec-30b6ca46-d074-4043-a062-2381c6aaa81f-768x960.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter shoggoth-infographic shoggoth-infographic-portrait wp-image-570288\" src=\"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/exec-30b6ca46-d074-4043-a062-2381c6aaa81f.png\" alt=\"Bitquery comparison from Aug. 27, 2025 to Oct. 7, 2026: holder addresses rose 27%, estimated addresses holding $10 or more fell 42%, and Polygon token supply fell 41%. Poisoning-pattern addresses accounted for 58% of net holder growth; about 1.1 million look-alikes are estimated.\" width=\"720\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/exec-30b6ca46-d074-4043-a062-2381c6aaa81f.png 1122w, https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/exec-30b6ca46-d074-4043-a062-2381c6aaa81f-240x300.png 240w, https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/exec-30b6ca46-d074-4043-a062-2381c6aaa81f-819x1024.png 819w, https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/exec-30b6ca46-d074-4043-a062-2381c6aaa81f-768x960.png 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Address poisoning involves scammers creating wallet addresses that resemble legitimate payment destinations and sending tiny transactions to potential victims, hoping they mistakenly copy the fraudulent addresses when transferring funds.<\/p>\n<aside id=\"cs-inline-newsletter-1\" class=\"cs-inline-newsletter cs-newsletter-brand\" data-newsletter-edition=\"catalyst\" data-inline-newsletter=\"\" data-newsletter-placement=\"article-midpoint\" aria-labelledby=\"cs-inline-newsletter-1-title\" aria-describedby=\"cs-inline-newsletter-1-copy\">\n<div class=\"cs-inline-newsletter__inner\">\n<div class=\"cs-inline-newsletter__content\">\n<div class=\"cs-inline-newsletter__editorial\">\n<p class=\"cs-inline-newsletter__eyebrow\">The Catalyst<\/p>\n<p class=\"cs-newsletter-frequency\">Daily Newsletter<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"cs-inline-newsletter-1-title\" class=\"cs-inline-newsletter__title\">Know what\u2019s moving crypto.<\/h2>\n<p id=\"cs-inline-newsletter-1-copy\" class=\"cs-inline-newsletter__copy\">Start with the stories that matter. Get the context behind the headlines and a clear view of what to watch next.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"cs-inline-newsletter__art\" aria-hidden=\"true\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/wp-content\/themes\/cryptoslate-2020\/images\/catalyst-newsletter-scrapbook-v3.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"640\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/wp-content\/themes\/cryptoslate-2020\/images\/catalyst-newsletter-scrapbook-v3.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"640\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>These addresses can retain fractional token balances, allowing them to count as holders. Bitquery cautioned that its classification was probabilistic and did not quantify losses from the suspected scams.<\/p>\n<p>The findings reflect Polygon&#8217;s August 2025 upgrade from bridged USDT to native USDT0, which preserved existing token balances and contract addresses. About 67% of current holders first received Tether before the upgrade.<\/p>\n<h2>Polygon&#8217;s payments ambitions face a measurement problem<\/h2>\n<p>The findings arrive as Polygon increasingly positions itself as a stablecoin payments network, competing for payment processors, institutional liquidity and cross-border settlement activity.<\/p>\n<p>That strategy has coincided with significant transaction growth.<\/p>\n<p>Blockchain analytics platform Growthepie recently reported that Polygon processed more wallet-to-wallet stablecoin transactions over seven days than Ethereum&#8217;s mainnet, and more than Base and Arbitrum combined.<\/p>\n<div class=\"cs-article-embed\">\n<p> <span class=\"cs-article-embed__related-reading\">Related Reading<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"cs-article-embed__title\">Stablecoin cards enter \u2018hyper growth\u2019 mode as monthly spending hits record $1.17 billion<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p> <span class=\"cs-article-embed__arrow\" aria-hidden=\"true\"> <i class=\"fa-light fa-arrow-up-right\"\/> <\/span> <\/div>\n<p>The metric excludes decentralized finance contracts, although transfers associated with automated activity, including address poisoning, could still contribute to transaction counts.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, DeFiLlama data shows Polygon holds approximately $2.93 billion in stablecoins, with Circle&#8217;s USDC accounting for $1.62 billion, or 55.29% of the market.<\/p>\n<p>Tether remains the network&#8217;s second-largest stablecoin, with approximately $795 million in supply, representing about 27% of the total.<\/p>\n<p>The figures suggest that Polygon&#8217;s broader stablecoin activity has developed differently from Tether&#8217;s shrinking capital base, although Bitquery&#8217;s findings do not establish whether genuine USDT0 payment volumes have declined.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Featured,Research,Scams,Stablecoins,payments,stablecoins,Tetherpayments,stablecoins,Tether#Polygons #million #USDT0 #holders #face #scrutiny #growth #matches #scam #patterns1791555191<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Polygon&#8217;s surging USDT0 holder count masks shrinking balances and suspected scam activity amid its broader push into stablecoin payments. An Oct. 7 investigation by blockchain analytics firm Bitquery found that addresses matching scam patterns accounted for 58% of the net growth in Polygon&#8217;s USDT0 holders since August 2025, raising questions about the quality of adoption<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14289,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1229,606,417,7331,406,6277,167,7329,659,149,282,218,7330],"class_list":["post-14288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ethereum","tag-face","tag-growth","tag-holders","tag-matches","tag-million","tag-patterns","tag-payments","tag-polygons","tag-scam","tag-scrutiny","tag-stablecoins","tag-tether","tag-usdt0"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v26.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Polygon&#039;s 8 million USDT0 holders face scrutiny as 58% of growth matches scam patterns - 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