USDC’s on-chain transaction volume grew 49% year over year in the third quarter, while its circulating supply was basically flat at quarter-end.
My take is that USDC is being used more frequently, but it’s too early to say that funds are steadily accumulating in it. Transaction volume measures how much was transferred; circulating supply reflects how much remained. The two aren’t interchangeable.
On November 13, the USDC Treasury minted 500 million USDC in just under an hour. This is a record for new mints, but it doesn’t mean an equivalent amount of funds ultimately remained in circulation, much less that it can be treated on its own as market buying.
There’s also been progress on the payments front: a USDC cross-border payment through a global payments system has taken place, but it was an internal corporate transfer. The next things to watch are whether circulating supply can keep growing and whether payments like this can expand beyond internal use.
If transfers keep increasing but balances don’t stick around, is USDC really expanding its payments network, or is it just becoming a faster-turnover dollar channel?
My take is that USDC is being used more frequently, but it’s too early to say that funds are steadily accumulating in it. Transaction volume measures how much was transferred; circulating supply reflects how much remained. The two aren’t interchangeable.
On November 13, the USDC Treasury minted 500 million USDC in just under an hour. This is a record for new mints, but it doesn’t mean an equivalent amount of funds ultimately remained in circulation, much less that it can be treated on its own as market buying.
There’s also been progress on the payments front: a USDC cross-border payment through a global payments system has taken place, but it was an internal corporate transfer. The next things to watch are whether circulating supply can keep growing and whether payments like this can expand beyond internal use.
If transfers keep increasing but balances don’t stick around, is USDC really expanding its payments network, or is it just becoming a faster-turnover dollar channel?