0:00
0:00
Subscribe to Bankless or sign in
Coindesk reported that USDC extended its lead over Tether's USDT in the first half of 2026, cementing its role as the stablecoin of choice for banks, fintechs, and regulated institutions even as new rivals like OpenUSD raise questions about Circle’s long-term margins.
What's the Scoop?
- Institutional Adoption Driving the Shift: Standard Chartered and BNY both recently added USDC-based services rather than building their own stablecoin infrastructure. That matters because it shows banks are treating it as the stablecoin rail most ready to plug into existing financial infrastructure for custody, minting, redemption, settlement, and treasury use cases. They're not building their own.
- USDC’s First-Half Lead: USDC accounted for roughly 70% of adjusted stablecoin transaction volume in the first half of 2026, according to Visa's onchain dashboard, while USDT held about 25%.
- OpenUSD Concerns: OpenUSD’s launch sparked fears that
Circle could face margin pressure from the new stablecoin backed by Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, Coinbase, BlackRock, and others, causing the stock to drop 20%. Yet, the selloff looked overdone: while OpenUSD is pitching free minting and redemption, shared reserve earnings, and governance rights, it still has to build adoption from scratch. USDC already has liquidity, integrations, institutional trust, and growing bank support.
Open USD Is Coming for Circle’s Margins on Bankless
The newest major stablecoin consortium is offering businesses a better deal than Circle has. Will Circle be fazed?
David Christopher
