GoTycheThe five-year deal could strengthen USDC’s reach in emerging markets, though Tether’s liquidity advantage remains hard to dislodge, analysts told CoinDesk.
Binance deal gives Circle a boost in stablecoin race with Tether, analysts say
The five-year deal could strengthen USDC’s reach in emerging markets, though Tether’s liquidity advantage remains hard to dislodge, analysts told CoinDesk.
Binance's $100 million stake and tie-up gives Circle a powerful distribution channel in markets where USDT is deeply entrenched, analysts said. USDC trading on Binance has already surged since the companies first partnered in 2024, Kaiko data shows. Tether still benefits from deeper local liquidity and long-standing user habits, limiting how quickly market share could shift, CEO of market maker Gravity Labs noted.
Circle’s expanded deal with Binance could give USDC USDC$0.9998 more traction in emerging markets and global trading, analysts said, while putting some additional pressure on Tether’s long-held lead in the dollar-denominated stablecoin race.
Binance invested $100 million in Circle CRCL$87.37·Market Closed shares and signed a new five-year commercial agreement to promote and integrate USDC across its platform. The arrangement gives Binance a direct stake in Circle’s growth while giving Circle wider distribution through one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges.
“This optimizes the relationship and further aligns Binance's interests with Circle's, echoing Circle-Coinbase's distributor-shareholder model,” Clear Street analyst Owen Lau told CoinDesk.
Binance has already become a major USDC venue
The companies’ first partnership, announced in December 2024, has already changed how USDC trades on Binance.
The exchange offered 140 USDC-quoted spot markets when the partnership began. It now has 329, according to Kaiko. That compares with a much slower increase from 39 markets in 2021 to 140 by late 2024.
Monthly USDC trading volume on Binance has also roughly doubled, rising from the $20 billion-$40 billion range before the partnership to consistently above $80 billion.
“Throughout 2026, Binance has consistently captured the largest share of USDC spot trading activity, processing $5 million-$10 billion in daily volume, roughly 10-20 times more than most other trading venues, which typically stay below $0.5 billion,” said Anastasia Melachrinos, head of research at Kaiko.
Other major exchanges have remained broadly within their previous USDC trading ranges, according to Kaiko, suggesting Binance itself has driven much of the increase.
“As Binance accelerates USDC's reach in emerging markets, that dominance is likely to grow even further,” Melachrinos said.
More pressure on Tether
USDC has a market capitalization of about $74 billion, making it the second-largest U.S. dollar stablecoin behind Tether’s roughly $140 billion USDT.
“There is a clear incentive on both sides to grow USDC through Binance’s user base and infrastructure,” said Martins Benkitis, co-founder and CEO of Gravity Team.
Circle has also been building beyond stablecoin issuance. Its Circle Payments Network is designed to connect financial institutions for stablecoin payments, while its recently announced $400 million acquisition of Singapore-based Tazapay would add local banking relationships and payment rails across emerging markets.
The strategy comes as stablecoin competition broadens beyond Circle and Tether. Banks and payment companies including Visa, Mastercard and Stripe have been pushing further into stablecoin payments and infrastructure.
Circle also has a close commercial relationship with Coinbase, which distributes USDC and shares in its economics. Lau said the Binance agreement does not give Circle additional leverage over Coinbase, noting that Circle recently renewed that partnership.
Binance can put USDC in front of more users, but Tether’s long-established trading and payment network will make market share difficult to shift quickly.
“That puts more pressure on USDT, particularly in global trading and emerging markets, where it has built a very strong position over many years,” Benkitis said. “But distribution alone won’t change that overnight. USDT has deep trading pairs, local liquidity and, importantly, people are already used to using it.”
1Bitget hacker moves $83 million in stolen XRP that Ripple cannot freeze53 minutes ago 2Bitcoin could soon get Zcash-style 'shielded' privacy without changing its rules1 hour ago 3Solana’s 150-millisecond settlement upgrade reaches second public test network8 hours ago 4XRP Ledger’s Batch upgrade slips to Oct. 9 after validator support resets9 hours ago 5U.S. SEC's steadiest crypto advocate, Hester Peirce, to depart next week15 hours ago 6Another appeals court rules against prediction market provider Kalshi, says sports contracts are subject to state regulations16 hours ago 7Blockchain Association sees leadership shift shortly after crypto Clarity Act fizzles17 hours ago 8Circle and Tether step in to freeze hacker wallet after massive Bitget crypto heist23 hours ago 9Tokenization is moving faster than Washington23 hours ago 10Tether confirms minimal EQIBank exposure following $89M US asset seizure23 hours ago
The Definitive Stablecoin Landscape Series: Asia Pacific
The Definitive Stablecoin Landscape Series: Asia Pacific
As stablecoins move into regulated finance, APAC is becoming a key proving ground. This report maps the region’s rules, use cases, and RLUSD’s role.
As stablecoins move into regulated finance, APAC is becoming a key proving ground. This report maps the region’s rules, use cases, and RLUSD’s role.
Why it matters:
As stablecoins move into regulated finance, APAC is becoming a key proving ground. This report maps the region’s rules, use cases, and RLUSD’s role.
KelpDAO sues LayerZero for the largest exploit 2026 has seen so far
Someone was trying to sell Ondo Finance after founder Nathan Allman's death
Bullish, Alpaca, Apex Fintech and DriveWealth form coalition to push issuer-backed tokenized stocks
Bitget hacker moves $83 million in stolen XRP that Ripple cannot freeze
Bitcoin could soon get Zcash-style 'shielded' privacy without changing its rules
Solana’s 150-millisecond settlement upgrade reaches second public test network