Crypto
Solana Surges as Circle's Weekly USDC Minting Hits Record $3.25 Billion
Circle's weekly minting of USDC on Solana reached an all-time high of $3.25 billion in April, according to data from SolScan. This marks the company's largest weekly stablecoin issuance this year. The surge in minting on Solana has been driven by lower fees and higher speed compared to Ethereum, which still dominates USDC supply with a 66% share. However, Solana now accounts for nearly 10% of total circulating USDC, showing its growing presence in the market.
Circle's stock gained 3.5% in pre-market trade on Monday, while Solana's price rose over 3% in the last 24 hours amid a broader rally in the cryptocurrency market.
The increase in minting on Solana has been attributed to its ability to offer lower fees and faster transaction speeds compared to Ethereum. This has led some experts to question Ethereum's dominance in stablecoin liquidity, which currently stands at around 66.5%.
Circle faced backlash last week after a $230 million USDC hack on the Solana blockchain, with many criticizing the company for not freezing the funds in time. The incident highlighted the need for more stringent security measures in the DeFi space.