USDC added roughly $584 million to its market cap in a single week, leading a combined $1.0 billion increase across USDC, Ethena's USDe, and PayPal's PYUSD. Total stablecoin supply has climbed to between $303 billion and $310 billion, with USDC capturing 60% to 70% of adjusted on-chain transaction volume in multiple periods throughout 2026.
Circle's USDC is doing most of the heavy lifting behind the stablecoin market's latest expansion. The token added roughly $584 million to its market cap over a single seven-day stretch, driving the bulk of a combined $1.0 billion increase shared across USDC, Ethena's USDe, and PayPal's PYUSD.
Stablecoin supply nears $310 billion
Total stablecoin supply has climbed to somewhere between $303 billion and $310 billion. USDC accounts for roughly $74 billion to $77 billion of that, about 24% of the total market. Tether's USDT still holds the commanding position, at approximately $184 billion, or around 60% market share.
However, USDC punches above its weight in adjusted on-chain transaction volume. Despite trailing USDT in total supply, USDC has captured between 60% and 70% of adjusted transaction volume in multiple periods throughout 2026. The token also added $1.5 billion to its supply in a single week in August 2026, and the current $584 million weekly gain fits a pattern of consistent, repeatable minting demand rather than one-off spikes.
Three tokens, three different risk profiles
The $1.0 billion combined weekly increase came from USDC, USDe, and PYUSD, three tokens with very different architectures. Circle holds cash and short-term Treasuries as reserves for USDC, publishes regular attestations, and has built a reputation for regulatory compliance.
USDe, issued by Ethena, maintains its dollar peg through a delta-neutral strategy, holding spot ETH while simultaneously shorting ETH futures. USDe currently sits somewhere in the $4 billion to $6 billion range. PYUSD, the PayPal-issued stablecoin built on infrastructure from Paxos, has experienced notable supply contractions in prior months, with drawdowns of between 11% and 35% at various points, and its current supply sits in the $2.7 billion to $3.9 billion range.
Source: Crypto Briefing
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