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Circle’s USDC was the most dominant stablecoin on Solana, accounting for nearly 80% of all stablecoins on the network.
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The market capitalization of stablecoins on the Solana blockchain more than doubled in January, soaring from $5.1 billion on New Year’s Day to $11.4 billion by month’s end, according to data from DefiLlama.
Solana has emerged as the preferred network for memecoin traders, luring activity from Ethereum with its lower fees and faster transactions. The surge in stablecoin issuance appeared to be linked to the renewed explosion of memecoin speculation, which gained traction when US President Donald Trump launched his own Solana-based cryptocurrency on Jan. 18, followed by a MELANIA token named after the first lady.
According to CCData, Solana’s stablecoin supply has jumped by more than 73% since mid-January, driven by Trump’s memecoin launches.
Solana’s stablecoin growth accelerated on Jan. 18. Source: DDefiLlamaDespite Solana’s memecoin-driven boom, Ethereum remains the dominant blockchain for DeFi activities, with $54.8 billion in total value locked. The network also leads total stablecoins value with $117 billion, while Tron trails in second with $60.7 billion, DefiLlama data shows.
Related: Stablecoin market cap surpasses $200B as USDC dominance rises
Tether’s USDT leads stablecoins on both Ethereum and Tron, with $65 billion and $60 billion, respectively. But on Solana, Circle’s USDC is the most dominant stablecoin, accounting for nearly 80% of all stablecoins on the network at $9.25 billion.
Blockchain data shows that Circle has continued to ramp up USDC issuance on Solana, minting an additional $250 million on Feb. 3, bringing its total for the past week to $1.25 billion.
Circle’s blockchain activity shows it mints USDC in batches of 250 million units. Source: Solscan
USDT is the world’s most traded stablecoin and has a market-leading valuation of $139.5 billion, while USDC is in second place with $53 billion. Circle has a long way to go to close the gap between itself and Tether. Still, Circle’s USDC outpaced the growth of all stablecoins in 2024 with a 78% yearly growth.
Meanwhile, Tether faces mounting regulatory challenges in the European Union, where major exchanges have begun delisting its stablecoin to comply with the bloc’s new Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations.
Despite the hurdles, Tether reported a record-breaking $13 billion in profit for 2024. The stablecoin giant claimed to have a US Treasury portfolio of $113 billion, with its total reserves exceeding $143 billion as of Dec. 31.
This article first appeared at Cointelegraph.com News
