USDC hits $60B market cap – Is the stablecoin closer to flipping USDT?

• USDC expands into Japan and upgrades its cross-chain transfers, making transactions faster and more efficient.
• Over the past three months, USDC added $16.3 billion, while USDT grew by only $4.4 billion.

Circle’s stablecoin USDC is making waves as it records a surge in market cap.

On the 26th of March, USDC’s market cap crossed its previous all-time high of $55 billion, recorded in 2022, and set a new historic high of $60.2 billion.

USDC hits $60B market cap, sets new record

The USDC’s record-breaking surge underscores the growing adoption of cryptocurrencies. But despite USDC’s impressive growth, Tether’s USDT still dominates with a $144 billion market cap.

In March 2024, USDC’s market cap was around $30 billion, but with the surge in crypto adoption, it has doubled, marking a 100% increase in market cap.

Can USDC challenge USDT?

However, in terms of growth over the past three months, USDC has outperformed USDT. During this period, USDC has added $16.60 billion to its supply, whereas USDT added only $4.70 billion, as reported by Artemis Analytics. 

Source: Artemis analytics

Despite this 100% surge and impressive growth over the past three months, Tether’s USDT remains in high demand and isn’t fading anytime soon due to its strong liquidity and widespread adoption.

Meanwhile, Circle has proven that it can climb further and provide tough competition in the coming days, backed by various trust factors that appeal to institutions, such as fully backed reserves, regulatory compliance, and institutional partnerships.

As a result, the USDC’s role in the cryptocurrency space is growing day by day.

Circle’s global expansion 

In addition to all this, Circle’s USDC appears to be expanding globally to showcase its capabilities.

The USDC was officially launched in Japan through a partnership with SBI VC Trade and is expanding into Asia’s growing stablecoin market.

It has also upgraded its cross-chain protocol, making USDC transfers on Avalanche [AVAX], Base, and Ethereum [ETH] much faster, reducing wait times from minutes to seconds.

These advancements enhance USDC’s efficiency, making it a stronger contender in the global stablecoin market and DeFi transactions.

This is not the only record the stablecoin market has witnessed today.

Notably, alongside USDC’s massive surge and record-high market cap, the total stablecoin market cap has also reached an all-time high, surpassing $230 billion.