USD Coin (USDC) vs Tether (USDT): comparison
Side-by-side comparison of USD Coin and Tether: how their prices moved, how they differ technically and what each is used for.
USDC and USDT: key specs
| USD Coin (USDC) | Tether (USDT) | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.999842 | $0.999817 |
| Ticker | USDC | USDT |
| Type | token | token |
| Network | Ethereum (ERC20) | TRON (TRC20) |
| Network fee paid in | ETH | TRX |
| Launched | 2018 | 2014 |
| Created by | Circle | Tether Limited |
| Max supply | no cap | no cap |
| Circulating supply | 74.38 B USDC | 183.46 B USDT |
| Market cap | $74.37 B | $183.43 B |
| Market cap rank | #6 | #3 |
CoinGecko data as of Sep 11, 2026, 20:34. How we calculate the data
Price change: USDC vs USDT
Both prices are set to 100 at the start of the period, so the chart shows which coin grew or fell more, not the prices themselves.
| Period | USDC | USDT |
|---|---|---|
| 7 days | −0.01% | −0.04% |
| 30 days | +0.02% | +0.04% |
| 90 days | 0% | 0% |
The correlation of their daily price changes over the last 90 days is 0.24 (weak).
USDC or USDT: what each is used for
- Holding dollarsUSD Coin and Tether
How USD Coin and Tether work
How USD Coin works
Like USDT, USDC exists on many blockchains — Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Arbitrum, BNB Smart Chain and others. Circle mints and burns tokens as dollars enter or leave its reserves, which keeps the price close to one dollar.
What USD Coin is used for
USDC is popular in DeFi and with businesses that prefer a regulated issuer. It is used for payments, savings in dollar terms, trading and moving value between blockchains.
How Tether works
USDT is not a blockchain of its own. The same dollar token is issued on many networks — TRON (TRC20), Ethereum (ERC20), BNB Smart Chain (BEP20), Solana, TON, Polygon, Arbitrum and others. Tokens on different networks are not interchangeable directly: they are moved between networks by exchanges and bridges.
What Tether is used for
USDT is used to park funds without price volatility, to settle trades, to move dollars across borders and to pay for services. It is the most traded asset in crypto and the most common way to lock in profits after selling other coins.