USD Coin (USDC) against Tether (USDT)
USD Coin and Tether next to each other: how the prices travelled, what differs under the hood and what each coin is built for.
USDC and USDT: what is under the hood
| USD Coin (USDC) | Tether (USDT) | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.999596 | $0.999181 |
| Ticker | USDC | USDT |
| Type | token | token |
| Network | Ethereum (ERC20) | OMNI |
| Fees are paid in | ETH | — |
| Launched | 2018 | 2014 |
| Built by | Circle | Tether Limited |
| Supply cap | no cap | no cap |
| In circulation | 73.72 B USDC | 183.44 B USDT |
| Market cap | $73.69 B | $183.29 B |
| Rank by cap | #6 | #3 |
Source: CoinGecko, Sep 17, 2026 08:24. Where these numbers come from
Who went where: USDC and USDT
Both prices start the period at 100, so the chart shows which one rose or fell harder — not the prices themselves.
| Period | USDC | USDT |
|---|---|---|
| Week | −0.03% | −0.06% |
| Month | −0.01% | −0.01% |
| Quarter | +0.01% | +0.01% |
Over the quarter their daily moves line up at 0.16 (they travel apart).
What each one is built for: USDC and USDT
- Sitting in dollarsUSD Coin and Tether
How USD Coin and Tether are built
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 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 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.