Circle’s USDC is leaving Tether behind in the stablecoin volume race, new data from Visa shows

Finance Circle’s USDC is leaving Tether behind in the stablecoin volume race, new data from Visa shows As Wall Street banks adopt digital currencies for faster settlements, overall trading volume spiked 63% in just a single month. By Olivier Acuna | Edited by Cheyenne Ligon Jul 6, 2026, 4:00 p.m. 1 min read Make preferred on Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Make preferred on Visa stablecoin data shows fiat-pegged token monthly activity increased to a record $1.79 trillion in June. ((Media/Visa) Summary Show Circle’s USDC accounted for about 70 percent of adjusted stablecoin transaction volume in the first half of 2026, widening its lead over Tether’s USDT, which held roughly 25 percent. Adjusted stablecoin transaction volume hit a record $1.79 trillion in June 2026, up 63 percent from May and 125 percent from June 2025, contributing to $8.82 trillion in volume for the first six months of the year. Growing adoption of stablecoins by banks and financial institutions, including new USDC services from Standard Chartered and BNY, reflects a broader shift toward established fiat-pegged digital asset networks. Circle’s USDC stablecoin widened its lead over competitor Tether’s USDT by transaction volume during the first half of 2026, according to fresh data from Visa’s onchain dashboard . In June alone, stablecoin activity increased to a record $1.79 trillion in adjusted transaction volume, up 63% from May's $1.1 trillion and 125% from about $795 billion in June 2025. Visa removes bot activity, exchange transfers and other blockchain transactions that do not reflect real economic activity before calculating adjusted volume. These figures come as banks and other financial institutions expand their use of stablecoins for payments, settlement and treasury operations. Standard Chartered and BNY recently added services around Circles’s USDC rather than building their own infrastructure which also reflects a broader shift toward using established stablecoin networks as activity and demand for fiat-pegged digital assets increases. The first six months of the year totaled $8.82 trillion in adjusted stablecoin transaction volume. That is more than the $5.8 trillion recorded during all of 2024 and $2 trillion less than the record $10.8 trillion reported in 2025. USDC accounted for about 70% of adjusted transaction volume during the first half of 2026. USDT represented roughly 25%.. In 2020, USDT made up nearly 90% of adjusted transaction volume. USDC accounted for less than 10%. By 2022, USDC accounted for about 45% of adjusted transaction volume. Stablecoins Circle Tether Latest Crypto News 1 One month that shook the market: Saylor's struggles over bitcoin strategy yields big losses 13 minutes ago 2 Ethereum developers embrace Vitalik Buterin's long-term vision but urge quicker execution 26 minutes ago 3 Securitize eyes acquisitions with $400 million war chest after going public, CEO says 1 hour ago 4 DeFi protocol Summer.fi halts Lazy Summer vaults after $6 million exploit 2 hours ago 5 Cantor says Strategy's recovery hinges on restoring STRC to par 2 hours ago 6 Bitmine added another $74 million in ether as Tom Lee bets on Clarity Act boost 3 hours ago 7 Michael Saylor's Strategy dramatically ups pace of bitcoin sales, raising $216 million 3 hours ago 8 Russia's largest bank plans crypto wallet launch as Moscow clears market path 4 hours ago 9 SpaceX's Nasdaq 100 inclusion comes with a historical warning 4 hours ago 10 U.S. inflation outlook underpins bitcoin bulls after best week since March 4 hours ago Latest Research Building the Zcash Machine: Tachyon and Quantum Readiness Building the Zcash Machine: Tachyon and Quantum Readiness Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold. By CoinDesk Research Jun 30, 2026 Commissioned by GenZcash Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold. Why it matters : Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold. View Full Report More From Finance Securitize eyes acquisitions with $400 million war chest after going public, CEO says Bitmine added another $74 million in ether as Tom Lee bets on Clarity Act boost Russia's largest bank plans crypto wallet launch as Moscow clears market path