USDT and USDC Diverge, Dominating Payments and DeFi Respectively

Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC together account for more than 80% of the $315 billion stablecoin market. The two leaders previously competed directly across blockchains, but as the blockchain ecosystem has matured, they have shifted from head-to-head competition toward distinct functional roles. The change is reshaping the stablecoin landscape.

According to Dune data through July 2026, Tether's USDT has come to dominate payments. It processed about $95 billion in commercial payments in the first half of the year, representing 92% of the B2B market. By contrast, Circle's USDC leads decentralized finance, processing $2.6 trillion in transfer volume on Base and $1.6 trillion on Ethereum in June, highlighting the pronounced divergence in how the two leading stablecoins are used.