Foreign media, citing on-chain data from Visa and Allium, report that the stablecoin market is developing a clearer division of labor: USDC dominates large-value settlements, while USDT remains dominant in broader small-value transfers and offshore USD demand. By market capitalization, USDT is still the largest stablecoin; however, when measured by “actual economic activity”—excluding internal transfers, bot activity, and other noise—USDC has clearly taken the lead.
The settlement volume gap widened in June.
The report noted that in June 2026, the adjusted total trading volume of stablecoins reached a record high of $1.79 trillion, with USDC accounting for approximately $1.21 trillion, or about 67%, and USDT at around $573 billion. For the first half of 2026, USDC’s share neared 70%, while USDT accounted for approximately 25%.
This means that the assets with the largest market capitalization and the highest settlement volume in the stablecoin market are no longer the same. USDT still leads with a market capitalization of approximately $184 billion, while USDC has a market capitalization of about $73 billion, but their roles in actual fund flows have diverged.
Banks and institutions drive increased volume of USDC.
The article argues that USDC's leadership is not the result of short-term fluctuations, but rather the outcome of years of accumulated efforts. Over the past several years, Circle has consistently focused on a compliance-driven strategy, including backing reserves with U.S. Treasuries and cash, regularly disclosing reserve details, and advancing products within regulatory frameworks more readily accepted in the United States and Europe.
The report notes that institutional adoption accelerated further in 2026. Standard Chartered Bank began offering USDC minting and redemption services through its traditional banking infrastructure, while BNY Mellon added USDC to its digital assets custody platform. The article concludes that major banks are more inclined to integrate with existing compliant stablecoin networks rather than issue their own tokens.
USDT still leads in transaction volume.
However, USDT has not lost all its advantages. According to June data, USDT processed approximately 145 million transactions, significantly higher than USDC’s 57 million. The article notes that USDT is still more commonly used for high-frequency, low-value, broad-user dollar transfers, particularly in emerging markets and offshore transaction environments.
In other words, USDC transfers involve larger individual transaction sizes, while USDT serves a greater number of users and transactions. The article summarizes this difference as two distinct markets: the former functions more like an institutional settlement channel, while the latter acts more like a store of value and medium of exchange.
The methodology for statistics is also disputed.
The report also noted that this "adjusted trading volume" is not raw on-chain data, but rather an estimate derived by filtering out internal transfers, bot loops, and aggregation transfers, meaning the methodology inherently involves judgment.
Additionally, Visa has been a partner of Circle since 2020, which has led some critics to remain cautious about the data metrics. However, the article states that since USDC first consistently surpassed USDT in monthly adjusted transaction volume in early 2025, this trend has persisted for multiple quarters, with no major dataset presenting contrary findings.