Stablecoins capture 75% trading as supply hits $315B, USDC gains, USDT declines

Stablecoin supply hit a record $315B in Q1 2026. USDC gained share as USDT posted its first quarterly drop since 2022 CEX.IO data.

Stablecoins took 75% of crypto trading volume, the highest on record. Total on-chain stablecoin settlement reached $28T in the quarter CEX.IO data.

USDT contraction
- USDT supply fell by about $3B in Q1 2026. It’s the first net quarterly decline since Q2 2022 CEX.IO data.
- Retail-sized stablecoin transfers dropped 16%, the steepest on record, pressuring USDT’s retail-driven float CEX.IO data.
- EU MiCA limited USDT access on EU-regulated venues, removing a key demand channel Coinspeaker.
- Tether did not publish a quarterly report addressing the decline; reserve opacity keeps splitting institutional demand Coinspeaker.

USDC expansion
- USDC reached about $78B in circulating supply by Q1 close, up ~220% since Q4 2023 CEX.IO Research.
- Growth clustered on Ethereum and Solana. Average transfer size was ~$557 with ~90x velocity, signaling programmatic flows CEX.IO Research.
- The report ties adoption to compliance-driven selection ahead of the U.S. GENIUS Act and to issuer behavior in legal processes, illustrated by Circle’s freeze and later unfreeze of a blacklisted wallet Coinspeaker report.
- State-level moves, including Delaware’s stablecoin banking framework, added a regulatory tailwind Coinspeaker report.