USD Coin is running for the title of the top stablecoin in the crypto space after its daily “real volume” on the Ethereum network doubled that of Tether’s USDT on Tuesday.
According to cryptocurrency market data tool Messari, Circle’s USDC recorded $1.1 billion daily real volume on the Ethereum network on June 21, which was double USDT’s real volume of $579 million.
Messari’s actual volume metric is calculated by collecting data only from exchanges that it believes have “significant and legitimate cryptocurrency trading volumes” and thus differs from the more commonly seen “total volume” metric.
Exchanges included in Messari’s actual volume metric include Binance, Bitfinex, Bitflyer, Bitstamp, Bittrex, Coinbase Pro, Gemini, itBit, Kraken, Poloniex, and those tracked on OnChainFX.
USDC supply gains ground
Tether’s circulating supply has continued to fall from its all-time high on May 11, down almost 20% from 83.1 billion coins in circulation to an eight-month low of $67,900. at the time of writing this article.
The USDC, for its part, has seen its supply increase by 13% since May 11, to 55.9 billion. If the trend continues, it could spell the end of Tether’s dominance in the stablecoin space.
The collapse of Terra and the possible contagion from the fall of the cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius have caused doubts among investors, aggravated by the market crash in recent weeks. Redemptions in Tether have increased significantly as a result, leading to a drop in supply.
Tether has attempted to shore up confidence in its stablecoin, even declaring on June 13 that the current cryptocurrency market calamities involving Terra and Celsius will have no impact on its reserves.. Despite this, investors seem to be migrating towards USDC.
Messari’s actual volume metric doesn’t tell the whole story, of course. Across all blockchains and exchanges, CoinGecko shows that USDT daily volume continues to top the charts at $44 billion, compared to USDC’s $5 billion..
Nevertheless, it is not known how much of the volume is due to USDT being used in wash trading to inflate coin or exchange numbers, which is why the imperfect metric of actual volume was developed.
In an effort to combat ongoing refunds and questions about the composition of your reserves, Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino told Euromoney on June 15 that his company plans to get a proper audit from a top 12 audit firm out there. Although he would like to see one of the big four firms do the audit, Ardoino said that “the big four are a bit more cautious about providing a full suit when the rules are not clear” around stablecoins.
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