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USD Coin is taking a run at the title of the top stablecoin in crypto after its daily ‘real volume’ on the Ethereum network doubled that of Tether’s USDT on Tuesday.
According to crypto market data tool Messari, Circle’s posted $1.1 billion in daily real volume on the Ethereum network on June 21, which was double USDT’s real volume of $579 million.
Messari’s real volume metric is calculated by compiling data only from exchanges that it believes have “significant and legitimate crypto trading volumes" and thus differs to the more-commonly seen "total volume" metric.
Trades included in the measurement of the actual volume of messari include binance, bitfinex, bitflyer, bitstamp, bittrex, COINBASE pro, gemini, itbit, kraken, poloniex, and the ones followed on onchainfx.
USDC supply gaining ground
Tether’s circulating supply has continued to fall since its all-time high on May 11, dropping nearly 20% from 83.1 billion coins in circulation to an eight-month low of 67.9 billion as of the time of writing.
USDC also saw its supply increase by 13% since May 11 to 55.9 billion. If the trends continue, it could spell the end of Tether’s dominance in the stablecoin space.
The collapse of layer-1 blockchain Terra and possible contagion from the fall of crypto lending platform Celsius have caused doubt among investors, made worse by a market crash in recent weeks. Tether buyouts increased substantially thereafter, resulting in reduced supply.
Tether has been attempting to shore up confidence in its stablecoin – including stating on June 13 that the ongoing calamities in the crypto market involving Terra and Celsius will not have any impact on its reserves. In spite of this, investors appear to be migrating to the USDC.
Messari’s real volume metric does not tell the whole story of course. In all blockchain and trade, coingecko shows usdt daily volume still top of charts at $44 billion compared to USDC's $5 billion.
However, it is not known what part of the volume is due to usdt being used in the washing trade to inflate the numbers for parts or exchanges, for this reason, the imperfect real volumetric metric has been developed.
Related: Record stablecoin market share points to crypto upside: JPMorgan
In an effort to combat the ongoing redemptions and doubts about the composition of its reserves Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino told Euromoney on June 15 that his firm plans on getting a proper audit from a top-12 auditing firm. He would like one of the four major firms to do the verification, Ardoino said, "the big four are a bit more cautious to provide a full when the rules aren't clear," around stablecoins.
