This Stablecoin’s Market Cap Skyrockets Amid FUD In Tether, UST

The de-peg of TerraUSD (UST) and a brief decline in Tether (USDT) saw redemptions of more than $30 billion Meanwhile, USDC thrives.
By Varinder Singh
This Stablecoin's Market Cap Skyrockets Amid FUD In Tether, UST

The crypto market crash last week has vastly shaken the crypto industry, with volatility witnessed in stablecoins too. The de-peg of TerraUSD (UST) and a brief decline in Tether (USDT) saw redemptions of more than $30 billion in top stablecoins in a week. Interestingly, the only stablecoin thriving from the volatility is Circle’s USD Coin or USDC.

The USDC’s market cap skyrocketed more than 10% from $48 billion to $53 billion since May 11th. The decline in other stablecoins led Circle to mint more than 10 billion coins in the last two weeks.

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USDC Becomes Preferred Stablecoin Over Tether (USDT)

Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) are collateralized stablecoins that rely on a reserve of US dollar and dollar-equivalent assets to support their supply. On May 9, Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin UST lost its peg with the US dollar. It resulted in massive sell-offs in the crypto market and redemptions in stablecoins.

On May 12, Tether’s USDT stablecoin declined to $0.95, losing its peg to the stablecoin despite being a collateralized stablecoin. This wreak havoc and USDT along with other stablecoins started losing their market cap.

Meanwhile, USD Coin’s market cap started to rise as traders shifted from the largest stablecoin USDT to USDC. Till now, USDT is trading below $1 despite major support from the Tether team.

 USDC vs USDT Market Cap
USDC vs USDT Market Cap. Source: Santiment

The data on USDC and USDT market by Santiment shows how the USDC has benefitted from the fall in USDT. The redemptions of USDT have continued to date. Meanwhile, the USDC transactions have also increased significantly in comparison to other stablecoins.

 Stablecoins Transaction Activity

Stablecoins Transaction Activity. Source: Santiment

Whales’ accumulation of USDC has increased since the USDT and UST FUD. In fact, Circle’s USDC stablecoin has become the top purchased token by 500 biggest ETH whales in the last 24 hours.

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Circle’s USD Coin Sees Massive Adoption

USD Coin is witnessing massive adoption due to its transparency and stability. Exchanges such as Kucoin and OKX are adding USDC trading pairs as the market demand booms.

Commenting on the USD Coin stability amid the bear market, Circle’s CEO Jeremy Allaire said:

“We’re doing a lot of what we’ve always done, which is try and build the most trusted, most transparent, most compliant model possible for this. There’s a reason why there’s been a flight to quality. There’s a reason why over the past week, USDC has seen strengthening, material strengthening.”

In fact, the leading crypto exchange FTX has also announced allowing customers to fund their accounts with the USDC stablecoin.

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Varinder Singh
Varinder has over 10 years of experience and is known as a seasoned leader for his involvement in the fintech sector. With over 5 years dedicated to blockchain, crypto, and Web3 developments, he has experienced two Bitcoin halving events making him key opinion leader in the space. At CoinGape Media, Varinder leads the editorial decisions, spearheading the news team to cover latest updates, markets trends and developments within the crypto industry. The company was recognized as Best Crypto Media Company 2024 for high impact and quality reporting. Being a Master of Technology degree holder, analytics thinker, technology enthusiast, Varinder has shared his knowledge of disruptive technologies in over 5000+ news, articles, and papers.
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