USD Coin (USDC) has been rated the fastest-growing stablecoin for the past 30 days, reflecting a shifting balance with Tether (USDT). The stablecoin is still in second place but will expand its influence on the European markets after the full enforcement of MiCA regulations.
Circle’s stablecoin had the fastest-growing supply for the past month. As the crypto market peaked, stablecoins are shifting their balance to reflect new regulations and demand.
USDC is growing as a substitute to Tether (USDT) for markets under the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation for the Euro area. USDC is entirely compliant due to having transparent banking reserves with licensed institutions. While USDT is backed by liquid assets, the collateral of USDC is compliant with the latest EU requirements.
Based on data from Artemis, USDC expanded its supply by $959.4M, for a total supply of over 45B tokens. During the same period, USDT expanded by $792.6M.
USDC supply was already growing in preparation for the January enforcement of the MiCA rules. In the past three months, the supply grew from around 35B tokens to the current levels.
The overall supply of USDC recovered to levels not seen since the 2022 market crash. The supply of USDC peaked at 58.9B in 2021, boosted by the first wave of DeFi. The current trend may continue, bringing a new all-time high. USDC also follows the predictions of more stablecoins being minted in 2025, to roughly double the current supply.
USDC and USDT are also reflecting the increasing usage for payments. Crypto-backed and algorithmic stablecoins DAI and USDe saw significant outflows as part of their supply was burned to balance the protocols.
After the recent shift in supply, stablecoins still carry more than $200B in total liquidity, though with a slightly lower turnover in the past 30 days.
Circle aims to change the stablecoin economy with USDC
USDC has been spreading across the crypto ecosystem, aiming to become a verified payment and trading tool. The token’s supply grew by more than 78% year-on-year, based on the recent State of the USDC economy report.
USDC reached $1 trillion in total payments in November 2024. The token aims to become a transparent and regulated partner to exchanges, banks, wallet services, and fintech apps. USDC targets up to 500M end users through digital wallets. USDC remains a tool for trading, a store of value for trading gains, and a token for global payments.
Circle, the issuer of USDC, also tracks global regulatory developments and is ready to comply with MiCA. The company expects the USA to follow suit with similar regulations, which will disqualify some stablecoins, or force them to become compliant. USDC is also growing its list of touch points with traditional finance, such as organizing wholesale transfers between fiat and crypto. The token aims for both at-scale finance and expanding retail use cases.
Solana expands USDC usage
One of the drivers of USDC expansion is the Solana network, which received additional liquidity. The Solana chain carries more than $5.9B in stablecoin liquidity, of which more than $4.77B in USDC. In the past week, USDC minted another 250M tokens on Solana, adding to its growing balance.
Over 3.25M users hold USDC on Solana, used for DeFi, trading on Raydium, and other general purposes. However, the usage of USDC is mostly concentrated in a handful of wallets, with the largest ones producing high-volume decentralized activity.
In the past month, USDC supply on Solana grew faster than the baseline, expanding by 26.56%. As a result, the dominance of USDC on Solana expanded to nearly 75%. Analysts expect Solana to catch up with other chains carrying stablecoins. Solana is already getting close to BNB Smart Chain, which carries $6.95B in stablecoin liquidity due to its older DeFi sector.
Solana is also lagging in building up a bigger collection of DeFi apps. Currently, Sky ecosystem is also expanding its minting of USDS on Solana.
USDC usage on Solana ranges between low-value transfers of under $5 and whale-sized transactions. Around 20% of USDC usage is for transactions of over $1,000. Solana offers a mix of high-velocity trading, as well as small-scale payments and transfers, expecting to increase the role of stablecoins in 2025.
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Source: https://www.cryptopolitan.com/eu-regulations-solana-usage-boost-usdc-supply-for-top-monthly-growth/