The market capitalization of the US dollar-backed stablecoin, USDC, has seen a significant recovery, rising by 80% from its 2023 lows, as reported by Blockworks Research. As of January 2, USDC’s circulating supply is nearing $44 billion, a substantial jump from its earlier figure of under $24 billion, according to CoinGecko. A notable change includes the distribution of USDC across various blockchain networks, showing a move away from heavy reliance on Ethereum. Currently, 65% of USDC is on Ethereum, while Solana holds 10%, and about 15% is split among Base, Arbitrum, and Hyperliquid.
The diversification is partly influenced by the increasing use of Solana, driven by interest in Solana-based memecoins and AI agent tokens. This was highlighted in a December report by Grayscale. In 2024, the total value locked on Solana expanded from $1.5 billion in January to nearly $8.5 billion by December, based on DefiLlama’s data.
The market capitalizations of major stablecoins, including Tether, USDC, and Dai, surged collectively by over $25 billion following Donald Trump’s election victory, according to a December research note by Citi. Researcher Steno Research projects that USDC’s supply could surpass $100 billion during 2025, driven by potential regulatory dynamics in the European Union concerning Tether. Citi suggests that growing stablecoin adoption could significantly benefit decentralized finance, as stablecoins serve as a gateway to DeFi activities.
In December, Grayscale identified key DeFi applications, including those on Solana, as tokens to watch in early 2025, which include Ethena, Jupiter, and Jito.
