The digital currency landscape underwent a significant shift in 2025 as Circle Internet’s USDC recorded a second consecutive year of growth outperforming its primary rival, Tether (USDT). Fueled by a wave of institutional adoption and the passage of landmark U.S. legislation, USDC’s market capitalization surged 73% to reach $75.12 billion. While Tether remains the market leader with a capitalization of $186.6 billion, its growth rate of 36% trailed behind Circle’s regulated offering, signaling a deepening preference for transparency among major financial players, CoinDesk said in a report.
This momentum follows the implementation of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, which President Trump signed into law in July 2025. The Act established the first comprehensive federal framework for “payment stablecoins,” requiring issuers to maintain 1:1 reserves in high-quality liquid assets and undergo rigorous monthly audits. For Circle Internet—which went public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CRCL) last June—the new regulatory clarity has acted as a catalyst, allowing the firm to integrate more deeply with traditional payment networks like Visa and Mastercard.
As the industry enters 2026, the combined stablecoin market has swelled to $312 billion, accounting for over 30% of all on-chain transactions. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently projected that the sector could grow tenfold by the end of the decade, potentially reaching $3 trillion as stablecoins become the “backbone of next-gen digital finance.” For investors and crypto proponents, the ongoing race between USDC and USDT is no longer just a battle for liquidity, but a test of whether the future of digital dollars will be defined by regulated, audit-heavy frameworks or the established, high-volume networks of the offshore era.
