USDC accounted for around 70% of adjusted stablecoin trading volume in H1, further widening its lead over USDT.

According to on-chain data from Visa, in the first half of 2026, Circle’s stablecoin USDC accounted for approximately 70% of adjusted stablecoin trading volume, further widening its lead over rival Tether’s USDT. In the same period, USDT held a roughly 25% share. The data shows adjusted stablecoin trading volume hit a record $1.79 trillion in June, up 63% from $1.1 trillion in May and 125% from around $795 billion in June 2025. When calculating adjusted trading volume, Visa excludes bot activity, exchange transfers, and other blockchain transactions that do not reflect genuine economic activity. The data release comes as banks and other financial institutions expand their use of stablecoins in payments, settlements, and fund management. Standard Chartered and BNY Mellon recently added services related to Circle’s USDC rather than building their own infrastructure, reflecting that amid rising activity and demand for fiat-pegged digital assets, financial institutions are increasingly leveraging established stablecoin networks. Adjusted stablecoin trading volume totaled $8.82 trillion in the first six months of this year, higher than the full-year 2024 figure of $5.8 trillion, but still roughly $2 trillion lower than the 2025 record of $10.8 trillion. In 2020, USDT once accounted for nearly 90% of adjusted trading volume, while USDC held less than 10%; by 2022, USDC’s share had risen to around 45%.