Key Takeaways
Which stablecoin is better for holding your capital for a while?
USDC, given its compliance and potential for rewards.
How about for trading and global transfers?
Tether’s USDT was more stable during the recent flash crash and could offer more assurance when trading volatile markets.
Tether’s USDT emerged as the most dominant stablecoin for global transfers in 2025. According to a recent report by Artemis, USDT had a 79% market share for the August transfers. Circle’s USDC came in second at 21%.
However, when zoomed out on a year-to-date basis, it can be seen that USDT dominance has been slowly sliding – From 90% in January to 79% in August.
Source: Artemis
On the contrary, USDC climbed up from 9% to 21%. In other words, it doubled in 2025 transfers, underscoring significant traction despite ranking second.
Given its global traction, holding USDT could be crucial if you travel a lot or handle international transfers.
Assessing USDT vs USDC safety
How about from a safety standpoint? Which one offers a better peace of mind? Or better yet, if Tether or Circle winds down today, which one would reimburse you fully and easily?
Well, Circle’s latest transparency report indicated that its stablecoin is backed 1:1 by cash and short-term Treasuries held with regulated entities. In fact, the Circle Reserve Fund, which holds the reserves, is being managed by BlackRock, a regulated entity.
Source: Circle
Currently, the reserves stand at $76 billion, on par with the $76 billion in USDC circulation. So, users can expect about 100% reimbursement if Circle were to wind down today.
However, for Tether’s USDT, only 80% of its reserve assets are in cash assets and U.S Treasuries. The rest are parked in corporate bonds, BTC, and commodities that may take a little longer to liquidate to repay holders in case of a bankruptcy.
Source: Tether
So, if you’re having a massive stash on the side, opting for USDC could offer assurance in an unlikely scenario that things hit the bankruptcy level for the two. Better yet, holding Coinbase would earn you an extra 4% rewards.
However, the de-pegging on 10 October also showed that USDT was more stable than USDC. Although the de-pegging happened on the USDe on the Binance platform, USDT held well.
In fact, it surged by 17 basis points while USDC was slightly lower by 0.01%-0.02% from the $1-level.
Source: USDT vs USDC during the October 10 flash crash
The USDT market cap hit $183 billion, more than double that of USDC’s $76 billion, with a massive global moat and stability.
However, USDC could offer more safety, alongside rewards, if held on certain intermediaries.