USDC Leads $30T Stablecoin Market as Institutions Adopt On-Chain

Stablecoin transaction volume exceeded $30 trillion over a 12-month period, with Circle’s USDC responsible for roughly 55% of that activity after regulatory changes in the United States and Europe. The U.S. GENIUS Act (2025) and the EU Markets in Crypto-Assets framework (MiCA) created compliance paths for banks and large companies to use regulated stablecoins for settlement.

The stablecoin market capitalization is about $315 billion to $320 billion. Circle reports USDC circulation near $77 billion to $78 billion, compared with roughly $188 billion for Tether’s USDT. Despite a smaller supply, USDC accounted for about 55% of overall stablecoin activity and roughly 70% of measured on-chain transaction volume in February 2026.

Institutions are using USDC for payroll, treasury management and cross-border business payments. Payment networks and vendors have added USDC to existing rails: Visa integrated USDC for settlement and expanded stablecoin-linked card products to more than 100 countries. Treasury platform Kyriba added USDC support for corporate finance teams. Coinbase partnered with payments firm Nium to enable institutional cross-border B2B settlement in USDC. Stripe reintroduced USDC acceptance and launched stablecoin accounts in over 100 jurisdictions. Some firms use faster blockchains such as Solana for on-chain settlement.

Market infrastructure data show high token velocity for USDC. Reveel reported USDC transfers of about $8.3 trillion in January, compared with roughly $1.7 trillion for USDT in the same month. Measured on-chain volume in February 2026 was about $1.26 trillion for USDC and $514 billion for USDT. Reports indicate USDC throughput rose about 6.8 times year over year, with quarterly transfer volumes approaching $9.6 trillion at peak.

Circle has expanded beyond issuing the token with Arc, a KYC-compliant layer designed for banks and enterprises to settle directly using USDC. Corporates and treasury managers report using USDC to reduce settlement times from days to seconds and to automate payouts and supply-chain payments with programmable contracts. Liquidity providers including Wintermute, Cumberland and Flowdesk provide market-making that supports near-real-time settlement.

Asset managers and tokenization platforms are building instruments on USDC rails. BlackRock, through its BUIDL fund and partnerships with tokenization firms, is developing an on-chain repo market that would use USDC to move liquidity in and out of tokenized Treasury bills around the clock. Market participants describe these arrangements as a way for institutions to manage cash and short-term collateral on a 24/7 basis.

Tether’s USDT remains larger by circulating supply and continues to account for substantial exchange trading volume. Stablecoins are digital tokens designed to maintain a stable value relative to fiat currencies; use cases include trading, payments and corporate treasury operations.