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USDC Extends Its Lead Over USDT in a Record Month for Stablecoins

Visa’s onchain data shows that USDC captured about 70% of stablecoin volume in H1 2026, while June hit a record $1.79 trillion in adjusted transactions.

By Luc Vesters
• 2 min read
USDC Extends Its Lead Over USDT in a Record Month for Stablecoins

Key Takeaways

  • USDC widened its lead over USDT in the first half of 2026, with about 70% of adjusted stablecoin volume versus 25% for USDT.
  • Adjusted stablecoin activity hit a record $1.79 trillion in June, up 63% from May and 125% above June 2025.
  • In the first six months of 2026, total adjusted stablecoin volume reached $8.82 trillion, above all of 2024 but still below the 2025 record.

USDC from Circle pulled further ahead of Tether’s USDT in the first half of 2026 by transaction volume, according to new data from Visa’s onchain dashboard. At the same time, stablecoin activity surged to a record $1.79 trillion (€1.6 trillion) in adjusted volume in June, marking a sharp step up from earlier in the year.

Record Volume in June

Visa strips out bot activity, exchange transfers, and other blockchain transactions that do not represent real economic activity. After those adjustments, June volume came in at $1.79 trillion (€1.6 trillion), which was 63% higher than May’s $1.1 trillion (€1 trillion) and 125% above the roughly $795 billion (€696 billion) recorded in June 2025.

For the first half of 2026, adjusted stablecoin volume totaled $8.82 trillion (€7.7 trillion). That already tops the $5.8 trillion (€5.1 trillion) seen across all of 2024, though it still trails the $10.8 trillion (€9.5 trillion) peak reached in 2025.

USDC Gains Ground

USDC made up about 70% of adjusted volume in the first six months of 2026, while USDT accounted for around 25%. That marks a clear change from 2020, when USDT represented nearly 90% of volume and USDC was below 10%. By 2022, USDC had already risen to roughly 45%.

The move lines up with a broader shift among institutions. Banks and other financial firms are increasingly using stablecoins for payments, settlement, and treasury management. Standard Chartered and BNY recently rolled out USDC-related services rather than building their own systems, a sign that established stablecoin rails are becoming more important.

Europe is seeing a similar shift. Revolut is dropping USDT in Europe after Tether decided not to pursue MiCA authorization, adding more pressure on USDT in regulated markets.

Why It Matters

For European crypto readers, the main point is that stablecoins are increasingly acting as financial infrastructure, not just trading assets. That could further strengthen the position of companies like Circle and Tether, especially as regulation in the US gives institutions more clarity. The GENIUS Act of 2025 is widely seen as one of the drivers behind the faster pace of adoption and issuance.

The market size underscores that trend. In the first quarter of 2026, the stablecoin market crossed $310 billion (€272 billion), according to the context provided, up 150% from the end of 2023.

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