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Tether's USDT has significantly narrowed the lead of Circle's USDC in BitPay transactions throughout 2025, signaling a notable shift in stablecoin dominance. While USDC maintained a strong presence in 2024, USDT's transaction share and volume have surged, challenging USDC's long-held position on the payment platform.
The Shifting Stablecoin Landscape on BitPay
In a significant reversal of trends, Tether's USDT has made substantial gains against Circle's USDC on the BitPay payment platform in 2025. This shift comes after USDC dominated stablecoin transactions on BitPay in 2024.
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USDC's Declining Share: In January 2024, USDC accounted for a commanding 85% of stablecoin transactions on BitPay, with USDT holding only 13%. By May 2025, USDC's share had plummeted to 56%, while USDT's share surged to 43%.
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USDT's Volume Dominance: Beyond transaction count, USDT also took the lead in payment volume. BitPay reported that while USDC was the most used token in 2024, USDT gained a sizable share of transaction volume starting in March 2025, exceeding 70% of stablecoin volume processed by the platform.
Factors Behind the Shift
The change in stablecoin preference on BitPay can be attributed to several factors, including a general increase in stablecoin transactions and a growing preference for USDT among existing merchants and customers.
BitPay's chief revenue officer, Bill Zielke, noted that while USDC was still the most popular stablecoin by transaction count, its lead had significantly diminished in 2025. He also highlighted BitPay's substantial user and merchant base in Europe, alongside its focus on growth in the United States.
Contrasting Approaches: Regulation and Public Offerings
The evolving dynamics on BitPay offer insights into the differing strategies of Tether and Circle, particularly concerning regulation and public market aspirations.
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Regulatory Stance: Circle became the first global stablecoin issuer to receive regulatory approval under Europe's MiCA in July 2024. In contrast, Tether has openly criticized certain aspects of MiCA and has stated its refusal to comply with the framework in Europe.
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Public Listing: Circle debuted public trading on June 5, raising $1.05 billion. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, however, confirmed that Tether has no intention of pursuing an initial public offering.
Market Capitalization Trends
Despite losing ground to USDT on BitPay, USDC has continued to demonstrate significant growth in market capitalization over the past year.
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USDC's Growth: USDC's market cap surged by 88% in the past year, from approximately $33 billion to its current $61.7 billion. Year-to-date, USDC's market cap has increased by 41%.
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USDT's Growth: Over the same period, USDT's market value increased by 40%, from $112.5 billion to $158.3 billion. Its year-to-date market value growth stands at 15.5%.
Sources
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Tether USDT Beats Rival USDC Stablecoin On BitPay In 2025, Cointelegraph.
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