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- Visa’s data shows Circle’s USDC surpassing Tether’s USDT in transaction volume since the start of 2024.
- USDC transacted $456 billion over the past week, capturing 50% of total stablecoin transactions YTD.
- Despite Tether’s dominance in circulation, USDC’s rise suggests a shifting preference.
According to data from on-chain analytics provider Visa Inc., Circle’s USDC transaction volume has surpassed Tether’s USDT since the beginning of 2024. The latest figures reveal that Circle’s USDC has steadily gained market share year-to-date (YTD).
Over the past week, USDC transacted $456 billion in volume, compared to Tether’s USDT recorded $89 billion. In addition, USDC accounted for 50% of total stablecoin transactions YTD. Notwithstanding, “Visa, which partnered with Circle in 2020, didn’t explain what prompted the uptick in USDC usage,” Bloomberg reported.
The news outlet further noted that these statistics “defy expectations,” as Tether’s USDT has traditionally been viewed as the dominant industry stablecoin. Per DefiLlama’s data, USDT holds a market dominance of 68%, in contrast to USDC’s 20%.
Moreover, Noelle Acheson, the author of the Crypto Is Macro Now newsletter, highlighted that the geographical preference for these stablecoins could have triggered this trend. “USDT is more held outside the US as a dollar-based store of value, while the USDC is used in the US as a transaction currency,” Acheson stated.
Stablecoins are US dollar-pegged cryptocurrencies crucial in facilitating trading and cross-border remittances. However, Cuy Sheffield, head of crypto at Visa, stressed that interpreting stablecoins transaction data is often tricky as “stablecoins can be used across a range of use cases with transactions that can be initiated manually by an end user or programmatically through bots.”
Furthermore, Bloomberg disclosed, “When cleansed of trades linked to bots, total transfer volume over the 30 days prior to April 24 fell from $2.65 trillion to $265 billion.”
Following revelations of Circle’s significant exposure to Silicon Valley Bank, the total value of USDC in circulation dropped from $56 billion to $23 billion in December 2023. Nonetheless, recent insights indicate a recovery, with the total value of USDC in circulation rebounding to $32.8 billion.
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