Stablecoin Divergence: USDT Rules Payments While USDC Dominates DeFi, Dune Data Shows

New insights from Dune Analytics reveal a massive divergence in the stablecoin landscape: Tether's USDT has secured an iron grip on the global payments sector, while Circle's USDC has emerged as the undisputed king of Decentralized Finance (DeFi). This shift indicates that the world's largest stablecoins are no longer fighting for the same territory, but are instead evolving into specialized financial products tailored to specific blockchain ecosystems.

This specialization carries profound implications for liquidity and network utility. With USDT commanding 92% of B2B payment volumes and maintaining a massive presence on the Tron network for remittances, it functions as a global medium of exchange. Conversely, the staggering transfer volumes of USDC on Ethereum and Base highlight its role as the essential liquidity layer for complex DeFi protocols and institutional-grade onchain finance.

Dune data shows Tether's USDT has become crypto’s dominant payments stablecoin while Circle's USDC powers DeFi, highlighting how blockchain choice shapes stablecoin use. The world’s biggest stablecoins are increasingly becoming chain-specific financial products, with Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC serving distinct roles across the crypto ecosystem rather than competing head-on.

Dune’s Digital Asset Brief found that USDT overwhelmingly dominates onchain payments. During the first half of the year, the largest stablecoin settled about $95 billion in identified commerce payments, compared with $14 billion for the second-biggest, USDC. It also accounted for roughly 92% of the business-to-business (B2B) payment volume. On Tron, USDT’s largest network, around 93% of the token’s supply is held in ordinary wallets rather than on exchanges, underscoring its role as a payment and remittance asset. Meanwhile, USDC has established itself as the dominant stablecoin in decentralized finance. USDC on Base processed roughly $2.6 trillion in transfer volume in June, while on Ethereum, it handled another $1.6 trillion.