Circle’s USDC Flips Tether as Companies Replace Bank Wires With Stablecoins
USDC has surpassed Tether in transfer volume as corporate treasury teams increasingly use stablecoins instead of traditional bank wires.Summary
Total stablecoin transaction volume reached a record $1.8 trillion in February 2026, with USD Coin (USDC) notably overtaking Tether (USDT) in transfer volume, signaling a shift driven by institutional demand for regulated, compliant dollar rails. Leon Waidmann, head of research at Lisk, attributed this flip to institutions preferring regulated infrastructure over Tether's dominance.
The broader adoption is evident as total stablecoin market capitalization grew to $314 billion, and stablecoins processed $33 trillion in 2025, double Visa's volume, with cross-border B2B payments being the fastest-growing use case. Circle demonstrated the efficiency gains by settling $68 million across eight internal entities in under 30 minutes using USDC, replacing multi-day bank wires. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire confirmed this infrastructure integrates with existing treasury workflows.
Analysts at Bernstein rated Circle stock as outperform, citing its regulatory compliance and technology stack as competitive advantages, despite increasing competition from Tether's regulated USAT stablecoin and initiatives from PayPal and Stripe. Circle's revenue grew 64% in 2025, driven largely by transaction revenue from USDC adoption.
(Source：BeInCrypto)