Tether’s (USDT) apparently unbreakable rule as the king of stablecoins is challenged. Based on on-chain analytics from payments behemoth Visa, Circle’s (USDC) has surprisedly outperformed Tether in April 2024 in terms of transaction volume. This advancement represents a notable change in the scene of stablecoins. Although Tether has an astounding market capitalization of more than $110 billion, USDC, with its $33 billion value, has become the more often traded coin. Visa’s data reveals USDC processed a whopping $456 billion – which is 400% more – in transaction volume last week, compared to Tether’s $89 billion.

Stablecoin transactions. Source: 

USDC: A Slow And Steady Climb

This triumph did not happen over night. Since late 2023, USDC has been progressively undermining Tether’s supremacy. With 145 million USDC compared to Tether’s 127 million, Visa’s data shows USDC’s monthly transactions exceeded Tether’s for the first time in December 2023. The April numbers confirm this trend: USDC counts in at over 166 million transactions against Tether’s about 164 million.

Source: 

Experts attribute numerous elements behind USDC’s ascent. Users towards USDC, thought to be a better controlled and auditable stablecoin, may be driven by growing regulatory scrutiny of Tether’s reserves and continuous worries about its openness.

Furthermore, USDC’s cooperation with Visa directly could be involved. In April Visa debuted a stablecoin analytics dashboard with USDC prominently displayed among other main stablecoins. This more prominence could be drawing fresh platform users.

As of today, the market cap of cryptocurrencies stood at $2.2 trillion. Chart: 

Tether Still Holds The Crown (For Now)

Tether is clearly the king in terms of market capitalization even with USDC’s amazing spike in transaction volume. Its $110 billion indicates a far higher overall value of outstanding coins than USDC’s $33 billion. Though they aren’t actively trading it as often, this implies Tether is still the favored store of wealth for many crypto investors.

Tether also boasts a far bigger user base. Tether observed activity from over 34 million distinct wallets compared to USDC’s 9.57 million but USDC handled more transactions in April. This would suggest that USDC serves a more active trading community whereas Tether is used for bigger transactions or by a more varied spectrum of people.

The Future Of Stablecoins: A Two-Horse Race?

USDC and Tether are still engaged in a far from finished conflict. Recent transaction volume success by USDC shows its increasing impact inside the crypto community. Tether’s established user base and market capitalization dominance, however, point to it won’t be readily challenged.

The future of stablecoins will probably be shaped in great part by changing regulatory environment and user tastes for openness and security. Remains to be seen whether USDC can sustain its momentum and challenge Tether’s market value advantage or if Tether can recover its transaction volume lead.

Featured image from Tap Global, chart from TradingView