Earlier in the year, the stablecoin war heated up when it was observed that the leading stablecoin Tether (USDT) was only $10 billion (USD) ahead of the next biggest competitor USD Coin (USDC) when comparing market caps. That gap held through much of June and July, but are they any closer now?

A Close Race

The two coins were an incredible $36 billion away from one another at the start of 2022. No one was making predictions that Tether was lagging or USDC was going to catch up with USDT. That changed when the two coins were compared this summer, though.

The gap has widened again, though, with Tether achieving a $16 billion lead over USDC. It still has a long way to go to get back to its incredible lead from the beginning of the year, but now the two don’t seem to be so close to switching positions. A widening gap means that Tether is regaining some of its industry clout.

USDC currently has a market capitalization of $51 compared to Tether’s impressive $67 billion. The trade volume is considerably different as well, with Tether leagues ahead with its $54.9 billion in trade over a 24-hour period. Compare that to USDC’s considerably lower $5.9 billion in trade over the same period. That means Tether is trading at about 10 times the volume of its next competitor.

Should Tether Be Worried?

What happens if USDC does overtake Tether at some point or at least gets really close to Tether’s market cap? It could mean that investors will lose confidence in tether and start pulling out.

How likely is that scenario to happen, though. Right now, it does not seem likely at all, and every indication shows that Tether has a firm lead that is not in any danger of jeopardy.

The upcoming Ethereum Merge changeup could alter some of the standings and really shake up the market, but it should not significantly affect the lead that Tether has over USDC, especially since Tether is backing the Merge.