USDC set to become dominant stablecoin on Ethereum
Tether supplies on Ethereum are dwindling as USD Coin demand grows and grows. USDC has grown much faster than Tether (USDT) in 2021 and it is emerging as the dominant stablecoin on Ethereum thanks to its popularity in DeFi according to Messari. Research by the analytics firm revealed that the demand for USD Coin has grown so much that it has consumed a large chunk of Tether’s market share this year.
Researcher Ryan Watkins predicted that in the coming weeks, this could result in Tether' share of the stablecoin supply on Ethereum falling below 50%. He added that over half of the total USDC supply now sits in smart contracts, which is equivalent to around $12.5 billion. Citing data from CoinMetrics, Messari estimates that more than 40% of the stablecoin supply on Ethereum is USDC. Watkins stated that the Circle stablecoin has now become the preferred dollar-pegged asset staked in smart contracts in DeFi protocols.
“Although this percentage is not as high as DAI, USDC leads by a wide margin in dollar terms and has become the preferred stablecoin in DeFi for now.”
The USDC supply has surged by more than 1,820% since the beginning of 2021 when there was just 1.3 billion circulating. Currently, the supply of the stablecoin is at a record 25 billion according to Circle. According to the Tether transparency report, there are 62.7 billion USDT in circulation, an increase of around 200% since the beginning of the year. Of that total, 30.9 billion is currently on the Ethereum network, a figure that has been falling with regularity this year as high network fees have hampered transactions. The researcher reported that DeFi lending protocols MakerDAO, Compound, and Aave are the largest consumers of USDC, holding around 23% of the total supply.
He added that the trend is likely to continue with the pending launch of Compound Treasury, a new product offering 4% interest on USDC to institutions, and initiatives centered on Circle’s DeFi API, a new platform to ease DeFi operations for businesses.
Earlier this week, U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase also announced that it would pay 4% interest on USDC holdings adding further momentum to the stablecoin.
Top Cryptocurrencies with Price Predictions
| # | Crypto | Prediction | Accuracy | CVIX | Price | 24h | 7d | Market Cap | 7d price change | |
| 1 |  BTC |
Bitcoin predictions | 91.2% | 13 | $62 695.67 | 2.12% | -1.16% | $1 234 968 563 054 |  |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 |  ETH |
Ethereum predictions | 88% | 20 | $2 940.36 | 0.36% | -4.47% | $353 176 688 186 |  |
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| 3 |  USDT |
Tether predictions | 94.8% | 1 | $0.999768 | 0% | -0.02% | $110 814 232 115 |  |
|
| 4 |  BNB |
Binance Coin predictions | 90% | 15 | $592.77 | -0.85% | 0.35% | $87 485 706 343 |  |
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| 5 |  SOL |
Solana predictions | 80.8% | 29 | $147.27 | 1.35% | -3.83% | $66 057 243 200 |  |
|
| 6 |  USDC |
USD Coin predictions | 91.2% | 1 | $0.999969 | -0.02% | 0% | $33 105 466 662 |  |
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| 7 |  XRP |
XRP predictions | 87.6% | 14 | $0.505350 | 0.65% | -7.97% | $27 975 776 891 |  |
|
| 8 |  TON |
Toncoin predictions | 71.2% | 54 | $7.30 | 3.83% | 24.36% | $25 358 442 980 |  |
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| 9 |  DOGE |
Dogecoin predictions | 79.2% | 34 | $0.148803 | 5.36% | -4.75% | $21 468 596 220 |  |
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| 10 |  ADA |
Cardano predictions | 86% | 17 | $0.439581 | 0.19% | -4.97% | $15 679 027 735 |  |
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| 11 |  SHIB |
SHIBA INU predictions | 76% | 45 | $0.000023 | 4.54% | -2.98% | $13 825 875 160 |  |
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| 12 |  AVAX |
Avalanche predictions | 82.4% | 33 | $32.56 | -2.77% | -12.70% | $12 423 713 512 |  |
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| 13 |  WTRX |
Wrapped TRON predictions | 82.4% | 34 | $0.126225 | -0.39% | 6.00% | $11 041 614 135 |  |
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| 14 |  TRX |
TRON predictions | 82% | 34 | $0.125968 | -0.80% | 5.79% | $11 019 123 324 |  |
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| 15 |  STETH |
Lido stETH predictions | 96% | 1 | $2 941.39 | -0.40% | -3.32% | $10 258 752 564 |  |
