USDC Hits $14.7B Annualized Run Rate as Stablecoins Enter Mainstream Finance

Circle's stablecoin, USDC, is expanding its reach beyond crypto trading and into mainstream financial operations. According to Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, digital dollars are now showing product-market fit across several financial activities.

The company's network has reached a $14.7 billion annualized run rate, with a 76% quarter-over-quarter increase in transaction volume. USDC circulation has also grown to $73.3 billion, while quarterly on-chain transaction volume surged 151% to $14.8 trillion.

Allaire pointed to the growing demand for digital dollars as a savings instrument in emerging and global markets, where households and businesses use it as an alternative to traditional dollar bank accounts. Tokenization is also expanding this reach further, as equities, commodities, and other traditional assets begin moving onto blockchain-based trading infrastructure.

The use of stablecoins in cross-border payments is becoming a key area, with Allaire noting that financial institutions can use digital dollars as the settlement leg between counterparties, reducing reliance on conventional banking settlement windows. This shift is reflected in Circle's Payments Network and Visa's stablecoin settlement pilot, which has reached a $7 billion annualized run rate after expanding support to nine blockchains.