USDC Gains Ground on Binance as Regulatory Changes Challenge Tether’s Dominance

Binance is seeing a rising dominance of USDC as regulatory changes reshape the stablecoin market. A year ago, USDC accounted for just 0.48% of Binance’s stablecoin distribution, dwarfed by USDT’s 68.67% share and FDUSD’s 30.84%.

However, over the past 12 months, USDC’s presence has surged to 8.26%.

This marked a whopping 1,621% increase, according to CryptoQuant’s latest analysis.

USDC’s Rapid Growth on Binance

The latest shift is largely attributed to regulatory pressures, particularly the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework. Furthermore, Binance’s decision to delist USDT for EU users by March 31st to comply with MiCA is further expected to accelerate USDC’s growth. As a result, questions arise about which stablecoin will dominate Binance’s global platform in the coming months.

“As the MiCA framework reshapes the European crypto market, USDC appears poised to capitalize on regulatory shifts, potentially challenging Tether’s long-standing dominance.”

Earlier this week, Japan officially welcomed USDC as the first and only global dollar stablecoin approved for use after SBI VC Trade received approval from the Japan Financial Services Agency (JFSA) as an Electronic Payments Provider under Japan’s new regulatory framework. This makes SBI VC Trade the first platform in Japan to list and distribute USDC.

Tether Troubles

MiCA became effective in December 2024 which sought to bring uniform digital asset regulations to the European market. Following its implementation, prominent crypto platforms such as Coinbase and Crypto.com have announced the removal of non-compliant stablecoins like Tether’s USDT for EU users.

Tether had earlier criticized the speed of this transition and warned that such haste could create market disruptions. The company also stressed that the regulatory impact extends beyond USDT, affecting several stablecoins and adding complexity to the situation.

As a result of the regulatory hurdles under MiCA, Tether decided to lean on its tokenization platform, Hadron, and its investment in the Dutch firm Quantoz as part of its European strategy. With USDT delistings taking place due to compliance requirements, the stablecoin issuer reiterated its focus on developing Hadron and supporting Quantoz while reassessing its USDT roadmap for Europe.

Hadron enables the creation of digital assets such as stablecoins, bonds, stocks, and loyalty programs. Quantoz, backed by Tether since 2024, has introduced EURQ and USDQ, two stablecoins that align with MiCA’s regulatory framework.