USDC Surpasses USDT in 2026 Adjusted Volume

For the first time since 2019, Circle's USDC stablecoin has surpassed Tether's USDT in adjusted transaction volume this year, according to a research note from Japanese investment bank Mizuho released on Friday. The shift marks a notable change in the competitive dynamics of the stablecoin market, with Mizuho analysts attributing the growth to expanding real-world applications for USDC.

Mizuho estimated that USDC processed about 2.2 trillion dollars in adjusted transaction volume through the first part of 2026, compared to 1.3 trillion dollars for USDT. This gives USDC roughly 64 percent of the adjusted stablecoin transaction share, a reversal from the 2019 to 2025 period when USDT consistently led and USDC averaged around 30 percent. Adjusted volume measures activity across centralized and decentralized exchanges as well as other entities, focusing on transfers that resemble genuine economic activity, such as payments between companies or bets on prediction markets.

Despite the transaction volume lead, USDT remains the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, at approximately 143 billion to 184 billion dollars across various data points, compared to USDC's roughly 78...