USDC gains share in trading volume driven by real-economy activity, signaling a shift away from USDT’s dominance despite USDT’s larger market cap. Circle’s USDC stablecoin trading volume surpassed Tether’s USDT for the first time this year. Mizuho’s adjusted trading volume filters out bots and high-frequency trading and includes transactions from centralized exchanges, decentralized exchanges, and other identifiable institutional addresses. In a note, Mizuho said USDC’s share versus USDT was 64 percent to 36 percent based on adjusted trading volume.
It said a long-term trend in which USDT led USDC from 2019 to 2025 has reversed. Mizuho defined the metric as transactions that appear to involve real people or institutions moving funds. Mizuho said this includes corporate payment settlements, Polymarket betting and fund movements between centralized exchanges and decentralized finance protocols. By market capitalization, USDT still dominates.
USDT has a market value of about $184 billion, while USDC is about $79 billion. Mizuho analysts said USDC is used more in everyday real-economy activity. They said Circle’s USDC has a higher share of use as a payment method. Mizuho said that in the long term the winner among stablecoins will not be the one with the biggest market value, but the one used most in everyday economic activity, and called the trend of USDC gaining share in trading volume positive.
USDC’s trading volume has eclipsed USDT for the first time this year when measured by Mizuho’s adjusted volume, which filters out bots and high-frequency trading and includes data from centralized and decentralized exchanges. The firm notes USDC accounts for about 64% of the USDT-USDC share, with USDT at 36%, signaling a reversal of the long-running dominance by USDT. Mizuho defines the metric as transactions that appear to involve real people or institutions moving funds and includes corporate settlements, Polymarket bets, and transfers between exchanges and DeFi protocols. While market capitalization still favors USDT (roughly $184 billion versus USDC’s $79 billion), analysts say USDC is used more in everyday real-economy activity and has a higher share of payments, suggesting the long-term winner may be the stablecoin most used in actual commerce rather than the one with the largest market value.
The takeaway is that the trend toward USDC gaining share in trading volume is positive, reflecting growing real-world utility and adoption beyond mere market cap. As stablecoins mature, the ability to facilitate everyday financial activity could redefine leadership in the space, even if nominal capitalization remains uneven.
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