The stablecoin landscape may be shifting.
USD Coin (USDC), issued by Circle, has reached a new all-time high market capitalization of about $81 billion, signaling rising demand for regulated dollar-pegged digital assets.
📈 Growing Supply
According to CoinMarketCap data, USDC supply has expanded rapidly:
Early February: ~$70B
Start of this month: ~$75B
Now: ~$81B (new ATH)
One driver appears to be increased stablecoin demand in the Middle East. Dubai-based trader Rami Al-Hashimi reported heavy activity at OTC desks in the UAE as investors seek dollar-linked assets amid regional financial uncertainty.
Even Fundstrat Global Advisors strategist Tom Lee pointed to this as an example of stablecoins’ real-world utility.
However, Al-Hashimi’s claims remain unverified and should be treated cautiously.
🔍 A Bigger Shift: Real Usage
A more meaningful development comes from analysis by Mizuho Securities.
Analysts Dan Dolev and Alexander Jenkins examined “adjusted trading volume” — filtering out wash trading and automated circular transactions to focus on activity tied to real economic use.
Their findings:
USDC: ~$2.2 trillion in adjusted transaction volume (YTD)
USDT: ~$1.3 trillion
This marks the first time since 2019 that USDC has surpassed Tether in this category, capturing 64% of combined stablecoin activity.
🧠 Why This Matters
The analysis suggests USDC is increasingly used for real economic activity, including:
DeFi protocol flows
Payments
Prediction markets
Autonomous AI agent transactions
Because of this growing utility, Mizuho raised its price target for Circle to $120, while maintaining a neutral outlook.
⚖️ But Tether Still Dominates
Despite USDC’s growth, USDT remains the largest stablecoin with a market cap around $184 billion — roughly 2.4× larger than USDC.
For now, the stablecoin race isn’t over — but the gap in real transactional usage appears to be narrowing.