From circle by Jeremy Allaire

The past year marks a major leap forward in the growth and maturation of the USDC economy. Around the world, there is significant momentum as more people and businesses tap the power of digital dollars on blockchain networks. Developers continue to discover the power of USDC and Circle’s technologies as a platform for building apps that can make global commerce and finance better, faster, and more inclusive.

Usage trends help quantify this momentum. USDC in circulation grew by more than 78% year-over-year1 — faster than any other large, global stablecoin. Monthly transaction volume, meanwhile, reached $1 trillion in November 2024 alone while surpassing $18 trillion in all-time volume.2

The USDC user base is also robust and going mainstream. Through expanding partnerships with leading digital asset exchanges, banks, and wallets, USDC is now accessible to more than 500 million end-user wallet products, supporting a range of use cases from crypto capital markets activities to dollar store of value, and a growing wave of payments applications around the world.

Beyond the US dollar’s preeminent role in trade, payments, and global finance, three factors are poised to accelerate the adoption and utility of USDC. First, legal and regulatory clarity; second, the scalability of new blockchain networks; and third, superior UX.

Around the world, emerging stablecoin rules are creating robust standards that protect consumers and pave the way for broader institutional integration, consistent with Circle’s way of doing business. There are strong signs that the U.S. will soon follow suit and play a major role in harmonizing these rules globally. This trend toward regulatory clarity will engender greater confidence in USDC among households, firms, and financial institutions.  

At the same time, blockchain infrastructure is rapidly improving, becoming faster, safer, and more resilient. Developers are simplifying the user experience and pushing complexities to the background so that the tech “just works.” Blockchains that have solved major scaling issues can now enable USDC payments around the world that cost just a fraction of a penny.

Relatedly, the number of durable connection points between USDC and traditional finance is proliferating. Circle’s expanding global banking network adds direct wholesale access to USDC in many of the world's financial centers. The expanding number of on- and off-ramps can unlock more traditional payments use cases, including global payroll, supplier payments, remittances, merchant payments, and more.

Together, these upgrades mirror the way that dial-up internet and rudimentary browsers evolved into broadband and the mobile web, with search and e-commerce bringing all of the world’s knowledge and salable goods to the fingertips of billions.

We are delivering on our mission to raise global economic prosperity through the frictionless exchange of value.”Jeremy AllaireCo-Founder, Chairman, and CEO, Circle

It is hard to overstate the transformation that open networks and ultra-fast throughput can bring. Take storing and moving video: In 2002, it was a hassle to transfer a video file. Twenty years later, people consume over 1 billion hours of video daily.3 Likewise, the Circle stablecoin network enables near-instant uploading and distribution of value around the world. USDC and open financial infrastructure are at the center of the emerging internet financial system.

The growth of the USDC economy reflects a bigger trend toward openness in finance, where technology advances — and API ubiquity — are fueling a future in which instant, low-cost payments are the expectation. Recent research confirms this, with 65% of payments executives recognizing the need to expand instant payments infrastructure.4 Yet traditional payments have been slow to catch up. USDC is poised to help the fast-evolving payments landscape reach its full potential, especially in emerging markets that are rapidly switching from cash to non-cash payments.5

At Circle, being internet-scale, enterprise-grade, and regulation-ready is not just a sound business strategy. It is essential to being a platform for prosperity. More than a decade ago, we set out to build a company that leverages the best aspects of blockchain — high speed, low costs, inclusive reach, and programmability — to rebuild global value exchange from the ground up using internet rails. As this report illustrates, we are delivering on our mission to raise global economic prosperity through the frictionless exchange of value.

We have never been more optimistic about what the future holds — not just for Circle, but for everyone involved in the USDC ecosystem.