On the Ethereum mainnet, real USDC volume has nearly doubled against USDT in the past 24 hours, which could be another sign that the top stablecoin’s dominance is coming to an end.
USD Coin (USDC) is vying to be the best cryptocurrency stablecoin after its daily “real volume” on the Ethereum network doubled versus Tether (USDT) on Tuesday.
According to crypto market data tool Messari, USDC Circle recorded daily real volume of $1.1 billion on the Ethereum network on Tuesday, double the USDT real volume of $579 million.
Messari’s real volume metric is calculated by only collecting data from exchanges it believes have “significant and legitimate crypto trading volumes” and therefore differ from the more common “total volume” metric.
Exchanges included in Messaris Real Volume Metric include Binance, Bitfinex, Bitflyer, Bitstamp, Bittrex, Coinbase Pro, Gemini, itBit, Kraken, Poloniex and those tracked on OnChainFX.
Real 24 hour volume for USDT on Ethereum. Messari
USDC supply gaining momentum
The number of Tether coins in circulation continues to fall from an all-time high on May 11, falling nearly 20% from 83.1 billion coins in circulation to an eight-month low of 67.9 billion at the time of writing.
On the other hand, since May 11, USDC supply is up 13% to $55.9 billion. If trends continue, it could spell the end of Tether’s dominance in the stablecoin space.
The collapse of the Tier 1 Terra blockchain and potential contagion from the fall of crypto lending platform Celsius have raised doubts among investors, compounded by the market crash of the past few weeks. After that, the number of redemptions in Tether increased significantly, leading to a decrease in supply.
Tether is attempting to build confidence in its stablecoin, including saying on June 13 that the ongoing crypto market disasters involving Terra and Celsius will not impact its reserves. Despite this, investors seem to be moving towards USDC.
USDC bid catches up with USDT. CoinGecko
The real volume of Messari doesn’t tell the whole story, of course. Across all blockchains and exchanges, CoinGecko shows that daily USDT volume still tops the charts at $44 billion compared to $5 billion. A Tether spokesman told Cointelegraph in a July 1 update that Messari’s “real volume” is not true since it only includes USDC in USDC/USDT trading pairs.
However, it is not known how much of the volume is due to USDT being used in fictitious trading to inflate coin counts or exchanges, hence an imperfect real volume metric was devised.
Related: Stablecoin Market Share Record Shows Crypto Upside: JPMorgan
In an effort to combat ongoing redemptions and doubts about the composition of its reserves, Tether’s Chief Technology Officer Paolo Ardoino told Euromoney on June 15 that his firm plans to receive proper audits from 12 leading accounting firms. While he would like one of the top four firms to be audited, Ardoino said, “The Big Four are a bit more cautious about making a full claim when the rules aren’t clear” when it comes to stablecoins.
