Circle’s USDC Dominance Could Be Bearish For Crypto Market, Here’s Why

Circle’s native USDC stablecoin has been expanding its market footprint with major minting happening on the Solana blockchain this month. However, historical trend shows that the growing dominance of the Circle stablecoin is bearish for the crypto market. With Trump tariffs kicking in starting today, the global digital assets sector is already seeing some selling pressure.

Circle’s USDC Dominance – A Boon or Bane?

Circle has minted an additional 250 million USDC on the Solana blockchain, bringing the total issuance on Solana to $6 billion so far in 2025. This includes a significant 1.25 billion USDC minted in the past week alone, highlighting growing activity and demand on the network, as per data by Spot On Chain.

However, crypto analytics platform Alphractal believes that the rising Circle USDC dominance could not be a good thing for the crypto market. It further added that this shift comes amid a decline in altcoins, as many of the sell-offs have resulted in a substantial conversion of assets into USDC. In the post on the X platform, Alphractal noted:

“An interesting point is that USDC’s dominance has reached a key resistance level, the same as in 2021. If this metric continues to rise, it could be a bearish signal for the crypto market, indicating increased risk aversion. On the other hand, if it declines, it could pave the way for new market highs”.

Solana Stablecoin Supply Jumps 73%

The total supply of stablecoins on the Solana network has skyrocketed by over 73% since mid-January. This is largely due to the launch of the TRUMP meme coin and the MELANIA meme coin on the Solana network during the Donald Trump inauguration. This was when the USDC minting on Solana skyrocketed in a very short period.

A January 30 report from research firm CCData reveals that Solana’s stablecoin supply now stands at $11.1 billion, marking an impressive 112% growth since the start of the year. It noted:

“This increase coincided with a surge of capital inflows to the network following Donald Trump’s launch of his memecoin, $TRUMP, on Solana, which resulted in record [decentralized exchange] trading activity”.

Stablecoin Crypto Market Surges to $200 Billion

Data analysis platform CCData reported on January 31 that the stablecoin market cap surged by 73%, climbing from $121.18 billion in August 2023 to an all-time high of $211 billion.

USDT, the leading stablecoin by market capitalization, reached a record high of $140 billion in December 2023. As of January 31, its market cap stands at $139.4 billion, maintaining a dominance of 63.84%. In Q4 2024, USDT stablecoin issuer Tether reported $13 billion in profit.