WalletConnect Sees Record-Breaking USDC Volume Amid Growing DeFi Dominance

WalletConnect Network processed $155.9 billion in USDC volume during the first half of 2026, according to Saman Nargund, Ecosystem & Marketing Partnerships Lead at WalletConnect. The majority of this volume came from institutional custodians and retail users alike, with both groups choosing to move, operate, and bridge across chains using USDC.

The analysis highlights two layers of activity: institutional movements and organic retail activity in decentralized finance (DeFi). DeFi absorbed the largest share of the money flow, totaling $149.79 billion, followed by prediction markets and artificial intelligence agents with $4.51 billion. Interoperability and wallet custody each accounted for significantly less volume.

The wallets that channeled this volume included Fireblocks, MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Tangem, SafePal, Uniswap Wallet, Binance Wallet, Ledger Live, OKX Wallet, and Bitget Wallet. The United States led in both volume, $143 billion, and transactions, 129,729 operations, despite representing only a small portion of the total stablecoin supply.

WalletConnect Pay, which was introduced alongside Moneda on Base, also saw significant activity, processing more than $2.5 billion in payments. This growth is set to continue as Circle National Trust obtained final approval from the OCC to operate in July 2026.