In a landmark development for the digital asset industry, Circle has achieved two significant milestones that underscore its growing dominance in the tokenization and stablecoin sectors. First, the company announced that its tokenized money market fund, USYC, has become the world's largest, surpassing $2 billion in assets under management and overtaking competitor BlackRock's BUIDL fund.
USYC, acquired from Hashnote in 2025, now holds the title of the largest tokenized money market fund globally. The fund, which reflects shares in the Hashnote International Short Duration Yield Fund Ltd., offers a yield of approximately 3.20% net of fees. It primarily invests in short-term U.S. Treasury bills and reverse repurchase agreements backed by U.S. government securities. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire highlighted the fund's innovative mechanics on X, stating, "What's especially powerful about USYC is the ability to 24/7/365 create and redeem it using USDC and a smart contract teller. Real-time money and collateral is better." He added that tokenized treasuries and repo as collateral represent a major emerging use case.
Concurrently, a major shift is occurring in the stablecoin market. For the first time in six years, Circle's USDC stablecoin has surpassed Tether's USDT in trading volume. According to 2026 year-to-date data, USDC's adjusted trading volume stands at approximately $2.2 trillion, representing about 64% of total stablecoin volume. In contrast, USDT's adjusted volume for the same period is $1.3 trillion. This marks a complete reversal from the early 2020s, when USDT commanded 70-80% of the market share.
This volume crossover has prompted a significant reassessment by financial analysts. Mizuho Securities has dramatically increased its price target for Circle from $100 to $120, citing increased on-chain activity, expanding use cases for USDC, and the stablecoin's market resilience during downturns. The investment firm maintained its Neutral rating on the company while acknowledging substantial progress in Circle's market position and infrastructure development.
Analysts point to several factors driving USDC's ascent: a preference among traditional financial institutions for transparent, audited stablecoins; deeper integration of USDC across decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols on eight major blockchain networks including Ethereum and Solana; and a regulatory environment that favors compliant issuers. Circle's compliance-first approach and banking partnerships have positioned it favorably within frameworks like the EU's MiCA regulation.
The growth of USYC and the volume leadership of USDC are interconnected, demonstrating Circle's strategy to build a comprehensive ecosystem for tokenized real-world assets and digital dollars, primarily targeting institutional adoption before potentially opening to retail investors.
