DeFi Activity Is the Engine Behind USDC’s Rise

[etfs]

One major reason USDC pulled ahead is its dominance in decentralized finance. On lending platforms and decentralized exchanges, the same dollar often cycles through multiple trades in a single day. USDC is the preferred stablecoin in these environments, which naturally boosts transaction volume as capital is reused across protocols.

By contrast, USDT functions more like digital cash held in reserve — especially on centralized exchanges and payment rails. Users tend to park it rather than rotate it constantly. This difference in behavior, not adoption alone, explains why USDC now moves more value annually despite having a much smaller supply.

[96f402f86e]

makes sense tbh, usdc is actually used instead of just sitting there doing nothing

[Revenant]

DeFi prefers assets that move, not just sit

[Capybara_Capybara]

Reuse across lending, DEXs, arbitrage = inflated real volume

[The_Walking_Dead]

USDT is storage-heavy, USDC is flow-heavy