The combined circulating supply of Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC increased by approximately $1.7 billion in August, ending three consecutive months of contraction as cryptocurrency markets recovered sharply from their summer lows. Data compiled by WuBlockchain show combined USDT and USDC supply declined by approximately $2.6 billion in May, $6 billion in June and another $2.2 billion in July.
That represented a cumulative contraction of roughly $10.8 billion over three months. August’s $1.7 billion increase therefore marks the first monthly reversal since April, providing an early indication that dollar liquidity is beginning to return to digital-asset markets. The expansion remains modest relative to the preceding contraction. August has so far recovered only around 16% of the combined supply lost during May through July. Current Artemis data place the broader stablecoin market at approximately $314.4 billion, with USDT and USDC continuing to dominate circulation.
August Growth Remains Far Below Previous Bull Markets
Stablecoin supply is closely watched because dollar-pegged tokens provide much of the immediately deployable liquidity used across cryptocurrency exchanges, decentralized finance and blockchain settlement. Rapidly expanding supply can indicate fresh capital entering crypto markets, although issuance does not automatically mean those funds will be deployed into Bitcoin or other risk assets. Historical comparisons show why August’s reversal should be interpreted cautiously. Monthly USDT and USDC supply growth exceeded $18 billion during periods of the 2021 bull market and again during the strong liquidity expansion of late 2024, according to WuBlockchain’s historical analysis. During the 2025 bull market, monthly increases repeatedly reached approximately $8 billion to $12 billion.
Against those benchmarks, August’s $1.7 billion expansion remains small. A sustained monthly increase above approximately $10 billion would more closely resemble the liquidity conditions accompanying previous periods of strong cryptocurrency market expansion. The current numbers instead suggest the contraction has stopped without yet demonstrating that large-scale capital creation has resumed. The distinction is notable because Bitcoin has already experienced a substantial price recovery, rising from around $60,000 earlier in the month toward $80,000. Stablecoin liquidity has not expanded at anything approaching the same pace.
USDC Growth Helps Reverse Earlier Supply Decline
Circle’s USDC has played an important role in the recent stabilization. Circle reported $73.3 billion of USDC outstanding at the end of the second quarter, up 19% from a year earlier, despite supply declining from higher levels reached earlier in 2026. The company also reported $14.8 trillion of USDC on-chain transaction volume during the second quarter, an increase of 151% year over year. More recent data indicate issuance has started strengthening again. Token Terminal-based figures reported this week showed Circle-issued stablecoin supply increasing by approximately $1.7 billion over a seven-day period, while Tether supply increased by roughly $202 million during the same measurement window. Artemis currently places USDT supply at approximately $183.85 billion and USDC at $75.13 billion, giving the two assets a combined circulating value near $259 billion.
Together they account for more than four-fifths of the stablecoin supply tracked by Artemis. Their supply trajectory therefore remains an important measure of liquidity available throughout crypto markets. The August reversal also arrives as regulatory clarity around dollar stablecoins improves in the United States following passage of the GENIUS Act, while banks, payment companies and cryptocurrency exchanges increasingly develop competing tokenized-dollar products. Still, supply growth alone cannot establish the beginning of another broad crypto bull cycle. Stablecoins are increasingly used for payments, remittances and settlement independently of speculative cryptocurrency trading. Their circulation can therefore expand without producing equivalent buying pressure in Bitcoin or Ether.
The significance of August is instead the change in direction. After approximately $10.8 billion of combined USDT and USDC contraction between May and July, the two dominant stablecoins have returned to positive supply growth. If that $1.7 billion rebound accelerates toward the $8 billion-to-$12 billion monthly increases seen repeatedly during 2025, it would provide much stronger evidence that crypto’s price recovery is being accompanied by broad liquidity expansion. For now, Bitcoin has recovered considerably faster than the stablecoin supply supporting the wider market — making August an early liquidity inflection rather than confirmation of another full-scale expansion cycle.