USDC Surpasses USDT in DeFi Usage Activity

USDC surpasses USDT in DeFi usage activity.

The value transferred through the stablecoin USDC from Circle over the past year exceeded that of USDT from Tether.

The respective value of the first “stablecoin” stands at $17.3 trillion, while the second is $12.9 trillion, according to data from the analytics platform Artemis.

However, in terms of market capitalization, USDT still leads with a figure of $186 billion. The current value of USDC is $74.9 billion.

USDC remains the preferred tool on DeFi platforms, “where lending and trading are conducted automatically,” noted Artemis co-founder Anthony Yim. According to him, the competing USDT is mainly used “for everyday transactions, business operations, or as a store of value.” 

The total volume of “stablecoin” transactions in 2025 increased by 72% to $33 trillion.

In the fourth quarter of last year, turnover in the sector reached a record $11 trillion. The previous period’s figure was $8.8 trillion. 

Analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence forecast that the total volume of the stablecoin segment could reach $56 trillion by 2030.

In December, the CFTC launched a pilot program for using digital assets as collateral in derivatives markets under the GENIUS Act. In the first phase, the list of permissible collateral assets included Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDC.

Earlier in December, Visa initiated settlements in Circle’s token within the United States.