Ethereum dominates USDC issuance with 70% of $72B market cap

The article says Ethereum remains the dominant settlement layer for USDC, with roughly $49.5 billion, or about 68.8%-70% of Circle’s $72 billion stablecoin supply, issued natively on Ethereum. Solana is the main competitor but hosts only about $7 billion in USDC, underscoring Ethereum’s lead in stablecoin liquidity and DeFi activity. The piece argues that Circle’s Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP), now supported on 35 blockchains, reduces bridge risk by burning and reminting native USDC across chains, but does not displace Ethereum’s deep liquidity and institutional use. The article also notes that Circle’s multi-chain expansion, including recent support for Cronos, Injective, Stellar, and World Chain, broadens USDC’s payments and DeFi reach while making USDT’s dominance less secure on newer networks. Overall, the market takeaway is that Ethereum’s stablecoin network effect remains highly resilient.