Stablecoins are increasingly becoming business infrastructure, not just a crypto payment option. A new report from NOWPayments shows that businesses are using dollar-pegged tokens for supplier settlements, affiliate commissions, marketplace payouts, payroll, and treasury transfers. The platform processed stablecoin transactions across multiple blockchains and released H1 2026 data comparing USDT and USDC usage.
USDT remains the dominant stablecoin by transaction volume, accounting for 66.92% of stablecoin transaction volume on NOWPayments in H1 2026. Its share of transaction count was 41.32%, indicating continued importance in higher-value business transfers. However, USDT transaction count declined 1.55% year over year, while transaction volume fell 14.99% compared with H1 2025.
USDC is gaining momentum significantly faster from a smaller base. In H1 2026, USDC transaction count increased 209.02% year over year, and transaction volume rose 101.63%. Its share of stablecoin transaction count climbed from 2.88% in 2025 to 4.94% in 2026, while its volume share rose from 5.52% to 8.95%.
The divergence reflects two different strengths: USDT offers global scale and liquidity, while USDC has a clearer position within Europe’s MiCA-regulated environment. NOWPayments supports USDT on TRON, Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, and Polygon, and USDC on Ethereum, Base, Polygon, and Arbitrum. Kate Lifshits, CBDO of NOWPayments, said businesses increasingly need not choose between the two assets, as supporting both can provide more flexibility across markets, partners, and operational requirements.
A separate business guide also highlighted five liquid stablecoins for B2B invoicing and settlement: USDT, USDC, USDS, DAI, and PYUSD. It noted that businesses should evaluate liquidity, price stability, network availability, transaction costs, fiat off-ramp options, and compliance before choosing a stablecoin for cross-border payments.
