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Circle's USDC Overtakes Tether in Stablecoin Transaction Volume
28 Aug 2026, 22:30
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USDC now accounts for roughly 70% of adjusted stablecoin transaction volume even though Tether still leads on total circulating supply.
<p>Circle's USDC has overtaken Tether's USDT in stablecoin transaction volume, accounting for roughly 70% of adjusted stablecoin transaction activity in the first half of 2026 compared to USDT's approximately 25% share -- even as Tether continues to dominate total circulating supply by a wide margin.</p>
<p>The split between the two metrics tells two different stories about how each stablecoin is actually being used. Tether remains the larger stablecoin by circulating supply, at roughly $183 billion and around 59% of the total stablecoin market, more than double USDC's supply of roughly 23% market share. Together, the two issuers account for the vast majority of all stablecoin value in circulation, leaving relatively little room for competitors like Sky, Paxos or Ethena's synthetic dollar to meaningfully challenge either leader on scale.</p>
<p>But transaction volume measures something different from supply -- how actively a stablecoin actually moves, rather than how much of it simply sits in wallets or exchange balances. USDT continues to dominate trading volume specifically on centralized exchanges, where it accounts for an estimated 74% of stablecoin-denominated trading activity, reflecting its deep entrenchment as the default trading pair across exchanges, particularly in Asian and emerging markets. USDC's strength, by contrast, has increasingly concentrated in institutional and settlement use cases -- on-chain payments, DeFi collateral, and increasingly, tokenized Treasury and real-world asset infrastructure where regulatory clarity and issuer transparency matter more to institutional counterparties.</p>
<p>That divergence reflects the two companies' differing regulatory postures. Circle has pursued more extensive regulatory engagement in the US and Europe, including obtaining a New York trust charter this year, positioning USDC as the preferred stablecoin for institutions requiring stronger compliance assurances. Tether has continued to expand its footprint primarily through new exchange listings and geographic reach, particularly in markets with lighter stablecoin-specific regulatory requirements, while facing growing restrictions in jurisdictions like the European Union under the MiCA framework.</p>
<p>The result is a stablecoin market that increasingly looks bifurcated by use case rather than headed toward a single winner: USDT dominant where retail trading volume and broad global reach matter most, USDC gaining ground wherever institutional trust and regulatory alignment are the priority. With total stablecoin trading volume on track to smash annual records in 2026, both companies appear positioned to keep growing in absolute terms even as their relative strengths continue to diverge.</p>
<p>The split between the two metrics tells two different stories about how each stablecoin is actually being used. Tether remains the larger stablecoin by circulating supply, at roughly $183 billion and around 59% of the total stablecoin market, more than double USDC's supply of roughly 23% market share. Together, the two issuers account for the vast majority of all stablecoin value in circulation, leaving relatively little room for competitors like Sky, Paxos or Ethena's synthetic dollar to meaningfully challenge either leader on scale.</p>
<p>But transaction volume measures something different from supply -- how actively a stablecoin actually moves, rather than how much of it simply sits in wallets or exchange balances. USDT continues to dominate trading volume specifically on centralized exchanges, where it accounts for an estimated 74% of stablecoin-denominated trading activity, reflecting its deep entrenchment as the default trading pair across exchanges, particularly in Asian and emerging markets. USDC's strength, by contrast, has increasingly concentrated in institutional and settlement use cases -- on-chain payments, DeFi collateral, and increasingly, tokenized Treasury and real-world asset infrastructure where regulatory clarity and issuer transparency matter more to institutional counterparties.</p>
<p>That divergence reflects the two companies' differing regulatory postures. Circle has pursued more extensive regulatory engagement in the US and Europe, including obtaining a New York trust charter this year, positioning USDC as the preferred stablecoin for institutions requiring stronger compliance assurances. Tether has continued to expand its footprint primarily through new exchange listings and geographic reach, particularly in markets with lighter stablecoin-specific regulatory requirements, while facing growing restrictions in jurisdictions like the European Union under the MiCA framework.</p>
<p>The result is a stablecoin market that increasingly looks bifurcated by use case rather than headed toward a single winner: USDT dominant where retail trading volume and broad global reach matter most, USDC gaining ground wherever institutional trust and regulatory alignment are the priority. With total stablecoin trading volume on track to smash annual records in 2026, both companies appear positioned to keep growing in absolute terms even as their relative strengths continue to diverge.</p>