Circle and Tether mint $3B in stablecoins in 2 days

Circle and Tether collectively minted $3 billion worth of stablecoins over a 48-hour stretch, adding fuel to what has become a relentless engine of dollar-denominated liquidity across blockchain networks.

The minting machine keeps running

Tether alone minted $1 billion in USDT on August 10, pushing its total circulating supply to approximately $183 billion.

Circle, meanwhile, has been operating at a blistering pace of its own. During the week ending August 13, the USDC issuer created roughly $5.4 billion in new tokens while redeeming about $5.3 billion. The net result was a modest $100 million increase in circulation, bringing total USDC supply to around $71.9 billion.

That gross-versus-net distinction matters. Circle is essentially running a massive revolving door, with billions flowing in and out daily to serve institutional clients who need on-chain dollars for settlement, trading, and treasury operations. The company reported average daily minting and redemption activity of approximately $1.9 billion during Q2 2026, a 105% increase compared to the same period a year earlier.

Circle’s total transaction volume for Q2 2026 hit $14.8 trillion.

Two giants, two strategies

USDC has positioned itself as the compliance-forward option. Circle has leaned heavily into regulatory engagement, transparency reports, and broad blockchain coverage. The stablecoin is now issued across 36 different blockchains.

With roughly $183 billion to $189 billion in circulation, Tether’s token dwarfs USDC by a factor of more than 2.5x. Tether operates across multiple chains including Tron and Ethereum, with Tron historically accounting for a substantial share of USDT transfers due to its lower transaction fees.

What the minting pace signals

Earlier in 2026, the two firms collectively minted $3.75 billion in a single week, including a $1 billion Tether mint that followed a similar pattern.

The combined circulating supply of USDT and USDC now sits somewhere north of $250 billion.