SBI VC Trade said users could lend assets directly to its platform, but added that the company may re-lend funds as part of its operations. SBI Holdings’ digital asset arm, SBI VC Trade, said it will launch a USDC lending service in Japan on Thursday, allowing retail users to lend stablecoins to the platform under fixed-term agreements in exchange for returns. On Wednesday, the company said users will be able to lend Circle’s USDC (USDC) stablecoin to the platform and receive interest payments, with a maximum application of 5,000 USDC per offering. The product is structured as a loan to SBI VC Trade rather than a deposit, meaning users take direct counterparty risk. SBI said it may also re-lend the borrowed USDC as part of its operations. The launch marks a further step in Japan’s stablecoin rollout, bringing a consumer-accessible USDC yield product to market through a licensed domestic platform. Read more
USDC’s market cap is approaching a record $80 billion, with one analyst linking the surge to capital flight and turmoil in Dubai’s real estate market. The market capitalization of the USDC stablecoin is approaching a record high near $80 billion as demand surges in the Middle East, with one analyst linking the spike to capital flight from the United Arab Emirates. According to data from CoinMarketCap, USDC (USDC)’s circulating supply has risen to roughly $79.2 billion, marking a new all-time high for the dollar-pegged stablecoin. The stablecoin’s market cap previously hit a high of below $79 billion in December last year. The increase comes after supply expanded by billions of dollars in recent weeks. The stablecoin’s market cap stood at just over $70 billion in early February and at $75 billion earlier this month. Read more
Analysts at the investment company said the change was significant because the stablecoin “winner” will be the one people use for everyday transactions. Japanese investment bank Mizuho reported that stablecoin issuer Circle’s USDC overtook Tether’s USDt in transaction volume for the first time since 2019. In a research note released on Friday, Mizuho said it had raised its price target for Circle stock from $100 to $120 after comparing transaction volumes between the two major stablecoins. According to Mizuho, USDC (USDC) had about $2.2 trillion in adjusted transaction volume for the year to date, compared with USDt (USDT) at $1.3 trillion. “The data shows USDC vs. USDT volumes at 64% market share,” said Mizuho. This is a reversal in a long-term trend of USDT volumes surpassing USDC in 2019-2025.” Read more
Stablecoin monthly transaction volume reached a record $1.8 trillion in February, as USDC surprised analysts with 70% of the total volume. Stablecoins have hit an all-time high in monthly transaction volume, as Circle’s USDC (USDC) flipped Tether’s USDt (USDT), new data shows. Key takeaways: Stablecoin monthly transaction volume reached a record $1.8 trillion in February. Read more
The stablecoin issuer reported $770 million in revenue for the final 2025 quarter, beating forecasts as full-year sales rose 64% and USDC circulation topped $75 billion. Stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group reported stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday, driven by rapid growth in its USDC stablecoin business and expanding payments operations, underscoring continued momentum in an otherwise challenging crypto market. For the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2025, Circle posted revenue of $770 million, a 77% increase from a year earlier, and reported net income of $133.4 million, or 43 cents per share. Analysts expected per-share earnings of 16 cents on revenue of $747 million. The strong quarter was fueled in part by a 72% year-on-year increase in the circulation of Circle’s US dollar-pegged stablecoin, USDC (USDC), which reached about $75.3 billion by year-end. Read more
Polymarket will migrate from bridged USDC on Polygon to Circle-issued native USDC, reducing reliance on cross-chain bridges as prediction markets expand. Circle Internet Group has partnered with Polymarket to transition the prediction market’s settlement infrastructure to native USDC, replacing bridged stablecoin collateral used for trading on its platform. According to Thursday’s announcement, Polymarket currently uses bridged USDC (USDC.e) on Polygon as trading collateral and plans to migrate to Circle-issued native USDC (USDC) over the next few months. Native USDC is issued by Circle’s regulated entities and can be redeemed one-for-one for US dollars, offering a “capital-efficient” and scalable alternative without relying on cross-chain bridges. Cross-chain bridges are protocols that transfer tokens between blockchains by locking assets on one network and issuing corresponding representations on another. However, secure cross-chain communication introduces trade-offs in security, trust or flexibility that ...
At Davos, Jeremy Allaire said Circle's stablecoin functions as shared infrastructure rather than a competitor to banks or card networks. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said the company views its dollar-pegged stablecoin as neutral financial infrastructure with network effects, rather than a product meant to compete with existing payment companies. Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box during the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, Allaire said Circle does not view card networks such as Visa or Mastercard as competitors, describing them instead as “significant partners.” According to Allaire, stablecoins are “network effect businesses,” with usage and circulation increasing as more developers and institutions integrate, adding that Circle operates as a “neutral company” that does not compete with banks, payment companies or exchanges. Read more
Onchain asset manager Maple is taking syrupUSDC to Coinbase’s Base network, adding institutional credit rails while pursuing Aave's Base instance next. Onchain asset manager Maple is extending its yield-bearing US dollar token, syrupUSDC, to Coinbase’s Base network, plugging institutional credit directly into a fast‑growing Ethereum layer-2 ecosystem. According to a Thursday release shared with Cointelegraph, the launch will provide the company with a “direct path” to Coinbase’s broader ecosystem of users and products, while making institutional-grade yield available to a wider base of onchain users, rather than keeping it siloed on the Ethereum mainnet. An Aave governance proposal is also currently live to onboard syrupUSDC as collateral on the Aave V3 Base Instance, if the vote passes. Read more
Arkham data shows wallets associated with the Official Trump meme team pulling about $94 million in USDC from TRUMP liquidity pools in December and routing the funds to Coinbase. Onchain analysts tracking the Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin on Solana have flagged large transfers from wallets labeled as parts of the “Official Trump Meme” cluster moving about $94 million in USDC from TRUMP liquidity pools over the past month. The most recent movement, highlighted by blockchain data platform Arkham, involved 33 million USDC (USDC) being withdrawn from liquidity on Tuesday and sent to an entity labeled Fireblocks, which then routed funds to wallets labeled as belonging to Coinbase. Public Solana records on Solscan corroborate the large USDC outflows from TRUMP‑linked wallets. Read more
Visa launched USDC settlement for US financial institutions, starting with Cross River and Lead Bank on Solana, with a wider rollout planned for 2026. Payment processing giant Visa has launched USDC settlement services for some United States-based financial institutions. Visa said Tuesday that its USDC (USDC) settlement service is available for US financial institutions, with Cross River Bank and Lead Bank as the first participants; they have already begun settling with Visa in USDC on the Solana blockchain, and a broader rollout is expected in 2026. The report follows USDC issuer Circle’s launch of the public testnet for its layer-1 blockchain Arc, with over 100 major partners, including Visa, Mastercard, BlackRock and Goldman Sachs, in late October. Visa noted that it is a design partner for the network, which “offers the performance and scalability needed to help support Visa’s global commercial activity.” Read more