Stablecoins keep piling on billions in fresh supply, and right now nobody is minting faster than Circle. $USDC stablecoin growth accelerated again this past week, with the token adding roughly $584 million to its market cap in just seven days, according to data reviewed by Crypto Briefing. That single-week gain drove most of a combined $1 billion increase spread across $USDC, Ethena’s $USDe, and PayPal’s $PYUSD, underscoring how much of the sector’s expansion currently rests on one issuer.

Key takeaways

  • $USDC added about $584 million to its market cap in one week, the biggest driver of a $1 billion combined stablecoin supply increase.
  • Total stablecoin supply sits between $303 billion and $310 billion, with $USDC holding roughly 24% market share.
  • Tether’s $USDT still leads with about 60% market share and roughly $184 billion in supply.
  • $USDC captures 60% to 70% of adjusted on-chain transaction volume in multiple 2026 periods, despite trailing $USDT in total supply.
  • Zcash surged about 20% to near-decade highs around $1,023 to $1,051, triggering $34.5 million to $44 million in short liquidations tied to Grayscale’s ZCSH ETF inflows.

$USDC spearheads stablecoin market expansion

$USDC’s latest weekly gain confirms it as the fastest-growing large stablecoin in a market that has ballooned to between $303 billion and $310 billion in total supply. That kind of range reflects how quickly capital moves between issuers, but the direction is clear: dollar-pegged tokens keep absorbing demand, and Circle’s token is capturing an outsized share of it.

Market cap growth and supply share

$USDC now accounts for roughly $74 billion to $77 billion of the total stablecoin supply, or about 24% of the market. That puts it well behind Tether’s $USDT, which still commands the largest slice at around $184 billion, or roughly 60% market share. The gap in raw supply is significant, but it doesn’t tell the whole story of where each token actually gets used.

On-chain transaction volume dominance

Here’s where the picture flips. Despite trailing $USDT by a wide margin in total supply, $USDC has captured between 60% and 70% of adjusted on-chain transaction volume during multiple periods throughout 2026. In other words, $USDC punches well above its weight when it comes to actual usage rather than just outstanding balances. That distinction matters for anyone trying to gauge which stablecoin is doing the heavy lifting in payments, DeFi settlement, and exchange flows rather than simply sitting parked in wallets.

This isn’t a one-time spike either. $USDC posted an even bigger jump in August 2026, adding $1.5 billion to its supply in a single week. The more recent $584 million gain is smaller by comparison, but analysts tracking the pattern describe it as consistent, repeatable minting demand rather than a short-lived surge.

Key stablecoins contributing to weekly supply growth

The $1 billion combined weekly increase wasn’t just a $USDC story. Three tokens with very different designs and risk profiles each contributed, and understanding how they work helps explain why the broader stablecoin market keeps expanding even as individual tokens experience swings.

$USDC’s regulatory-backed infrastructure

$USDC remains the most conventional of the three. Circle backs the token with cash and short-term Treasuries, publishes regular attestations of its reserves, and has leaned heavily on a reputation for regulatory compliance to win over institutional users. That structure is a big part of why $USDC continues to dominate on-chain transaction share even without leading in total supply.

$USDe’s delta-neutral strategy with $ETH

Ethena’s $USDe takes a fundamentally different approach. Rather than holding cash reserves, it preserves its dollar peg by employing a delta-neutral strategy, acquiring spot $ETH while concurrently establishing short positions in $ETH futures to offset price exposure. $USDe currently sits in the $4 billion to $6 billion range, smaller than $USDC or $USDT but still a meaningful contributor to the sector’s weekly growth.

$PYUSD’s supply contractions and ranges

PayPal’s $PYUSD, built on infrastructure from Paxos, tells a more volatile story. The token has experienced notable supply contractions in prior months, with drawdowns ranging between 11% and 35% at various points. Its current supply sits somewhere between $2.7 billion and $3.9 billion, a reminder that not every stablecoin issuer enjoys the steady, upward trajectory that $USDC has shown lately.

Zcash’s volatility fuels major crypto liquidations

While stablecoins expanded quietly in the background, a much louder story was unfolding in the derivatives market, where Zcash’s price action triggered one of the sharpest liquidation events of the year.

Price surge to near decade-highs

Zcash surged roughly 20% on September 4, touching an intraday high near $1,023 to $1,051, the highest level $ZEC has traded in nearly a decade. The move pushed total crypto liquidations to approximately $212 million across the market, a scale that reflects just how much leverage had built up around the token beforehand.

Short squeeze dynamics and liquidation scale

Short liquidations on $ZEC perpetual futures alone totaled between $34.5 million and $44 million during recent trading sessions, a disproportionately large chunk of that broader $212 million total considering Zcash isn’t among the largest cryptocurrencies by market cap. Open interest in $ZEC futures had climbed above $2 billion, with a heavy concentration of bearish bets. Much of that short positioning traced back to a critical vulnerability disclosed in May 2026 in Zcash’s Orchard shielded pool, a bug that spooked traders into piling into shorts. That lopsided setup is exactly what turns a modest price rally into a violent squeeze. $ZEC ranked among the top assets for daily liquidations throughout September, a sign the derivatives market around the coin remains far more leveraged than its spot trading volume alone would suggest.

Impact of Grayscale’s ZCSH ETF launch

The clearest catalyst behind the rally appears to be Grayscale’s ZCSH spot ETF, which debuted on August 25, 2026. In the fortnight following its listing, the fund had already pulled in more than $400 million in assets. The timing lines up neatly: $ZEC’s ascent began shortly after ZCSH launched, and the price move accelerated into early September right as the fund crossed that $400 million mark. Institutional inflows created sustained buying pressure in the spot market, and that pressure is what ultimately squeezed the leveraged shorts left over from the post-vulnerability pessimism.

Market outlook and risks from leverage and ETF inflows

Why does any of this matter beyond the headline numbers? Because the two stories, stablecoin growth on one side and a leveraged squeeze on the other, illustrate two very different kinds of crypto market behavior happening at the same time. One reflects steady, institutional-grade infrastructure growth. The other shows how quickly leverage can distort price discovery in a smaller-cap asset once a single catalyst, like an ETF, shifts sentiment.

The $2 billion in open interest still sitting on $ZEC futures leaves the market fragile. A sharp reversal could just as easily trigger a liquidation cascade in the opposite direction. Two variables are worth watching closely going forward: the pace of inflows into Grayscale’s ZCSH ETF, since a slowdown could remove the buying pressure that’s been propping up the rally, and whether short positions rebuild at these elevated price levels, which would set up conditions for an even sharper squeeze later on.

On the stablecoin side, the underlying dynamic is less dramatic but arguably more consequential for the broader market. Consistent $USDC stablecoin growth, paired with its outsized share of on-chain transaction volume, suggests that liquidity and settlement activity in crypto increasingly runs through Circle’s rails even as $USDT keeps the larger balance sheet. That divide between supply share and actual usage is likely to keep shaping how traders, exchanges, and DeFi protocols choose which dollar token to route through.

FAQ

What recent growth has $USDC shown in the stablecoin market?

$USDC added approximately $584 million to its market cap in a single week and holds about 24% of the total stablecoin supply, with strong on-chain transaction volumes capturing 60% to 70% during 2026.

How does $USDe maintain its peg to the US dollar?

$USDe uses a delta-neutral strategy by holding spot $ETH and simultaneously shorting $ETH futures to maintain its dollar peg.

What factors contributed to the recent surge and liquidations in Zcash prices?

Zcash surged roughly 20% to near decade-high prices, driven in part by over $400 million in inflows from Grayscale’s ZCSH spot ETF, which caused a short squeeze resulting in $34.5 million to $44 million in short liquidations.

What risks does the Zcash market currently face?

High open interest exceeding $2 billion with leveraged short positions creates fragility; a sharp price reversal could trigger liquidation cascades. Sustained ETF inflows are also crucial for continued price support.

Article produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by the editorial team.