Circle’s USDC Stablecoin Hits $50B in Circulation

The company published its latest attestation report, giving more details about its assets.

AccessTimeIconFeb 28, 2022 at 6:55 p.m. UTC
Updated May 11, 2023 at 3:45 p.m. UTC

Circle’s USDC stablecoin just passed $50 billion in total circulation, according to a recent attestation report. While still the second biggest stablecoin by total assets, it is moving closer to frontrunner Tether.

Circle’s total USDC supply grew from $42.4 billion in December to $50 billion in January, a growth of 18% in just one month. On the company's website, USDC's supply is even larger, at $53.3 billion as of Monday.

Tether remains the biggest stablecoin issuer to date with $78.6 billion in total supply, according to its December report.

Circle’s USDC supply jumped almost 100% in the last six months of 2021, while Tether’s USDT grew by just 25% in the same period.

One key difference between USDT and USDC is the assets that back each one. Tether still holds $24.2 billion, a little over 30%, of its assets in commercial paper, while Circle has 100% of its assets in cash or U.S. bonds.

In July 2021, the Boston-based company announced it would go public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). Last week, Circle said that the deal values it at $9 billion.

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Helene Braun

Helene is a New York-based news reporter at CoinDesk covering U.S. crypto exchanges and Wall Street. She is a recent graduate of New York University's business and economic reporting program and has appeared on CBS News and Nasdaq TradeTalks where she talked about the market. She holds BTC and ETH.


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