stable coins
By Julie Binoche
1 / 15
Circle Establishes Itself in DeFi, and It's No Coincidence. Decentralized finance platforms — lending protocols, liquidity pools, smart contracts — need a…
2 / 15
Two Tools, Two Markets That Almost Ignore Each Other. What's interesting — and a bit crazy when you think about it — is that these two stablecoins…
3 / 15
The stablecoin market is splitting in two. According to data from Dune Analytics, USDT — also known as Tether — is dominating daily payments, while USDC, issued by Circle, is…
4 / 15
It's quite logical when you think about it. USDT has built its reputation on sheer liquidity and availability.
5 / 15
Decentralized finance platforms — lending protocols, liquidity pools, smart contracts — need a stablecoin they can defend to their users and, increasingly, to regulators.
6 / 15
And Dune Analytics' figures show it clearly: USDC dominates in this ecosystem. Users engaging with smart contracts, yield farming applications, or lending protocols prefer USDC.
7 / 15
No precise details in the data on exact volumes by segment — Dune Analytics doesn't break it all down. But the trend is clear.
8 / 15
What's interesting — and a bit crazy when you think about it — is that these two stablecoins coexist without really competing directly.
9 / 15
See also: Radar Chat Integrates Bitcoin Lightning Payments into an Encrypted Messenger
10 / 15
This specialization says something about the market's maturity. A few years ago, the debate was "which stablecoin will win?" Now, the question is different.
11 / 15
More context: Tether Backs Mercado Bitcoin as MiCA Squeezes USDT Out of Europe
12 / 15
But it also raises questions. If USDC continues to assert itself in DeFi and regulators start to take a closer look at decentralized protocols — which seems inevitable — does…
13 / 15
USDT, on the other hand, maintains a dominant position in payments due to its massive integration on centralized exchanges.
14 / 15
The gap between the two uses seems to be widening rather than narrowing. DeFi platforms continue to list USDC as a priority for major pairs.
15 / 15
The Dune Analytics report doesn't say where this is going. What it does say is that the segmentation is real, measurable, and probably sustainable.
The Currency Analytics
Want the full story?