Analysts say Binance's $100 million Circle deal boosts USDC against Tether

Binance invested $100 million in Circle shares. Binance signed a new five-year commercial agreement to promote and integrate USDC across its platform. The agreement gives Binance a direct stake in Circle's growth. It gives Circle wider distribution through one of the world's largest crypto exchanges. Analysts said the expanded deal could give USDC more traction in emerging markets. Analysts said it could also give USDC more traction in global trading. Analysts said the deal could put additional pressure on Tether's long-held lead in dollar-denominated stablecoins. The CEO of market maker Gravity Labs said Tether benefits from deeper local liquidity and long-standing user habits. The CEO said those factors could limit how quickly market share shifts. Clear Street analyst Owen Lau said the arrangement aligns Binance's interests with Circle's and resembles Circle's distributor-shareholder model with Coinbase. The companies announced their first partnership in December 2024. Binance offered 140 USDC-quoted spot markets when that partnership began. Binance now has 329 such markets, according to Kaiko. Binance increased its markets from 39 in 2021 to 140 by late 2024. Monthly USDC trading volume on Binance roughly doubled. Volume rose from between $20 billion and $40 billion before the partnership to consistently above $80 billion.