Stablecoins Hit $322B; USDC Tops USDT as Open USD Launches

The stablecoin market reached a record $322 billion in June. Supply rose past $315 billion in April and exceeded $320 billion in May. Yield-bearing stablecoins accounted for more than half of the sector’s net market‑cap growth in Q2 2026.

USDC surpassed USDT in adjusted transaction volume for the first time, capturing roughly 64% of activity on that measure. Tokenized Treasury holdings climbed above $7 billion, led by BlackRock’s BUIDL product at more than $2.5 billion. On‑chain data by payment rail showed Tron leading retail transactions while Solana posted the fastest growth in institutional payments.

Open USD launched on June 30 under the Open Standard consortium with more than 140 founding partners, including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe and BlackRock. The product uses a zero‑fee mint and redeem model and shares reserve yield among partners. Stripe designated Open USD as the default stablecoin for Stripe‑powered businesses. Shares of Circle fell about 18% after the announcement.

U.S. regulatory action in Q2 focused on implementing the GENIUS Act. The FDIC published proposed PPSI rulemaking on April 7. FinCEN and OFAC issued full BSA/AML and sanctions obligations for issuers on April 8. On June 22, five federal agencies jointly proposed Customer Identification Program rules. Agencies have a statutory deadline of July 18 to issue final GENIUS Act rules covering capital, reserves, liquidity and redemption requirements.

In Europe, the transition period under MiCA ended on July 1. Several EU trading venues restricted or delisted USDT spot trading for some users. Euro‑denominated tokens including USDC, EURC, EURI and EURCV are operating under MiCA authorization, and around a dozen euro electronic money tokens now run under the framework. The Bank of England published draft rules that include a £40 billion aggregate issuance guardrail and a 2027 target for issuers.

New stablecoin products and infrastructure launched in Q2. SoFiUSD, issued with Paxos, became the first branded stablecoin backed by a U.S. national bank charter holder. Revolut introduced USAT, Crédit Agricole launched EURXT on Ethereum, and Western Union issued USDPT. Japan activated RLUSD on June 25 as the first Type 4 electronic payment instrument. Ripple invested in Flutterwave in a deal valuing the payments firm at $3.2 billion, linking RLUSD into more than one billion annual transactions across the region.

Reserve money market funds tied to stablecoin reserves reached the market in June. Fidelity launched a GENIUS Act‑aligned reserve fund on June 19. State Street introduced SSCXX on June 17, and Invesco filed for a similar product on June 26. Stablecoin infrastructure company StablecoinX began trading on Nasdaq under the ticker USDE on June 26.

Venture investment in Q2 focused on infrastructure. Rain raised $250 million in a Series C at a $1.95 billion valuation. Fasset raised $51 million to expand corridor banking across Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Trace Finance closed a $32 million Series A for regulated Brazil–U.S. corridor banking. JPYC completed a roughly ¥5 billion Series B, and Daya closed a $2.4 million pre‑seed round. Y Combinator began permitting founders to receive funding in stablecoins in spring 2026.

Dates to watch include the July 18 deadline for final GENIUS Act rules, an August 20 target for Wyoming’s WYST mainnet, and Italy’s EUR.BANK pilot scheduled to begin in August. Analysts at 21Shares forecast the market could triple to more than $1 trillion by year‑end. Supply and issuance data for Q3 will show upcoming changes in market size and composition.