FinanceRecent data from Visa indicates that Circle’s USDC has outpaced Tether’s USDT in the race for stablecoin transaction volume.

Trading volume surged 63% in June as Wall Street banks embrace digital currencies for quicker settlements.

By Olivier Acuna|Edited by Cheyenne Ligon Jul 6, 2026, 4:00 p.m. 1 min readMake preferred on ShareShare this articleCopy linkX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmailMake preferred on Visa's stablecoin statistics reveal that monthly activity for fiat-pegged tokens reached an unprecedented $1.79 trillion in June. ((Media/Visa)SummaryShow
  • In the first half of 2026, Circle’s USDC constituted approximately 70% of the adjusted stablecoin transaction volume, significantly ahead of Tether’s USDT, which accounted for about 25%.
  • The adjusted stablecoin transaction volume reached a historic high of $1.79 trillion in June 2026, marking a 63% increase from May and a 125% rise compared to June 2025, contributing to a total of $8.82 trillion in volume for the first six months.
  • The increasing adoption of stablecoins by banks and financial institutions, including new USDC offerings from Standard Chartered and BNY, indicates a broader shift towards established fiat-pegged digital asset networks.

According to Visa’s onchain dashboard, Circle’s USDC has outperformed Tether’s USDT in transaction volume during the first half of 2026.

In June, stablecoin transactions surged to a record $1.79 trillion in adjusted volume, an increase of 63% from May's $1.1 trillion and up 125% from approximately $795 billion in June 2025. Visa's adjusted volume excludes bot activities, exchange transfers, and other blockchain transactions not indicative of genuine economic activity.

These statistics emerge as banks and financial institutions expand their use of stablecoins for various operations, including payments and treasury functions. Institutions like Standard Chartered and BNY have chosen to enhance their services around Circles’s USDC rather than developing their own infrastructures, reflecting a significant trend towards utilizing established stablecoin networks in response to growing demand for fiat-pegged digital assets.

The total adjusted stablecoin transaction volume for the first half of the year reached $8.82 trillion, surpassing the $5.8 trillion recorded for all of 2024, though still falling short of the record $10.8 trillion noted in 2025.

USDC represented approximately 70% of the adjusted transaction volume during the first half of 2026, while USDT made up about 25%.

Back in 2020, USDT dominated with nearly 90% of adjusted transaction volume, while USDC had less than 10%. By 2022, USDC's share had climbed to around 45% of adjusted transaction volume.

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