January 2026 marked a watershed moment for stablecoins, with total on-chain transaction volume surpassing $10 trillion in a single month. USDC dominated that surge, processing more than $8.4 trillion in payments, far outpacing rivals and exceeding the combined monthly payment volumes of Visa and Mastercard.
Yet despite this explosive growth, Circle, the issuer of USDC, continues to face a sharp disconnect between on-chain reality and market valuation.
According to Artemis data, January’s stablecoin activity represented one of the strongest signals yet that digital dollars are moving beyond niche crypto use cases and into mainstream financial infrastructure.
Circle’s marketer, Peter Schroeder, noted that stablecoin transaction volume crossed $10 trillion in January alone, with USDC accounting for the vast majority of flows ($8.4 trillion).
By comparison, Visa and Mastercard together typically process around $2 trillion in monthly payments. Investors, however, appear unconvinced. Circle’s stock is down roughly 80% from its peak just seven months ago, a divergence that has sparked intense debate among analysts and market participants.
Equity fund executive Dan Tapiero pointed out that while stablecoins saw $33 trillion in total volume in 2025 and $10 trillion in January alone, Circle’s equity continues to price in failure rather than scale.
“USDC was $8T of that… in one month,” Tapiero said, arguing that the total addressable market (TAM) for stablecoins could exceed $1,000 trillion over time.
Others echo the view that the market is misclassifying Circle’s role, arguing that investors still treat it as a fintech company rather than as core financial infrastructure.
If this framing is true, then it understates the strategic importance of regulated digital dollars in payments, treasury operations, foreign exchange, and capital markets.
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