We’ve had lots of questions from our investor community looking for thoughts on OUSD, and so I thought I’d share my direct views here for anyone.
Stablecoin networks are platform and network effect businesses that are established over a long period of time, tend towards winner-take-most market structures, and resemble other internet platform utility markets. There are several layers that drive this.
First, stablecoin networks effectively act as public protocols and software layers on the internet and their network strength is a matter of the number and range of applications and services that integrate to the network. Every time a developer or service provider integrates to the network, it brings more network effects. This attracts more developers and adds more utility and more network effects. This then drives demand for the digital currency itself, which then reinforces these network effects through liquidity network effects.
We have realized this at a massive scale with the USDC network today — thousands upon thousands of services integrate with our network, which in turn provides immense utility not just to each application, but to users as a whole who benefit massively from the reach and interoperability that exists. This drives user and developer preference further. We’ve invested in building that ecosystem over nearly a decade, and now it’s accelerating as mainstream institutions come onto the network, connecting their customers and users.
We add to that utility by building software stacks that further expand and strengthen the network — protocols like CCTP and Gateway, which promote interoperability, safety and liquidity around the world. This expands the target surface area for app builders and developers, making it easy for them to tap into the liquidity and network effects that already exist. We are now seeing that stack get pulled into all kinds of chains, permissioned L2s, networks being built by governments, and so much more.
The second layer is that of liquidity network effects. This is fundamental. Liquidity begets liquidity. For a stablecoin to achieve scale and utility, it needs to be highly liquid, both on a primary basis (e.g., through all the major financial market centers in the world, with world class direct banking liquidity) and on a secondary basis both by being available and tradeable for retail and institutional clients in every geography and against every fiat instrument in the world. People who want to access and move value need to be able to easily get in and out of that digital currency. Here, we’ve invested nearly a decade in building out that liquidity, and it is now entrenched in exchanges, DeFI venues, and with PSPs, payments firms, regional exchanges, and so many others. Establishing these liquidity network effects also involves building global regulatory infrastructure and ensuring that the stablecoin is available under various regimes around the world. Today, USDC is in the top 3 most liquid digital assets in the world, and it falls off sharply after that. BTC, USDT and USDC have extraordinary liquidity. The closest other dollar stables are like 10x smaller and that liquidity tends to be concentrated in promotional books in a single exchange, whereas USDC liquidity is dispersed widely across dozens and dozens of surfaces. Building this liquidity has been a nearly decade-long task that we continue.
A third layer of network strength comes from the deep integration with the policy and regulatory environment — in many cases, years of effort to build licensing (e.g., USDC is the only large global stablecoin currently available in all of Europe or Japan), and more regimes for stablecoins are coming online, with Circle leading the way in ensuring that USDC is officially recognized, registered, licensed and accepted in the most important markets in the world. On the back of this is the work of building global banking, reserve management and treasury and liquidity management that can operate this on a nearly 24/7 basis in markets and banking systems globally. This globalization effort is a massive investment that we have made over the years.
All of these investments by Circle and our global ecosystem of thousands of partners have delivered the net result of providing the world’s most trusted and available digital dollar infrastructure—a utility that any user, developer, or business can freely and easily tap into. And we do not intend to slow down.
All of this compounds and shows in the numbers. In Q1 2026, according to third-party analysts (Artemis) who track stablecoin adoption, USDC handled nearly $30T in onchain transactions, representing 80% of all dollar stablecoin transactions on blockchains. USDT handled the remaining 20% of transactions. All of the combined remaining dollar stablecoins handled a total of 0% of transactions (i.e., < 0.5%). While other stablecoins may have some circulation, most of that is through promotions and incentives, the actual usage is extremely limited—because of the extremely limited liquidity and network utility that exists for these coins.
But my thoughts on the competitive landscape are not just about the strength of our network—there are also considerations around any new initiative.
Several perspectives and positioning have been shared about how something like OUSD improves on something like USDC.
1) Free mint and burn. The argument suggests that existing stablecoins charge burn fees, and payments firms should not need to pay these (despite the fact that the entire payment industry is built on small bps fees on various ingress and egress points on their networks). There are structural market realities built around the fact that some stablecoins impose very large redemption fees and have limited redemption facilities – the impact of this is that stablecoins with strong redemption facilities, good liquidity and no fees become the offramp for their competitor stablecoins. It may seem easy to say one will offer unlimited and free redeems, however market reality likely forces other behavior. This can be addressed – and is addressed by Circle – through contractual mechanisms vs. a blanket fee exemption.
2) Everybody wins and shares. While this sounds good in principle, the reality of the market and market opportunity is quite different. Today, Circle shares the majority of its income with its distribution partners, and we continue to lean hard into expanding those partnerships with leading companies across every sector of the market. However, we also retain significant income that allows us to invest in the massive market infrastructure that makes this such a powerful and valuable utility for the world to build on. Giving away all the income is a recipe for starving an infrastructure, systematically underinvesting and ensuring that your platform will remain limited in scope.
Furthermore, Circle believes that the future stablecoin market is likely several orders of magnitude larger than it is today. We’re actively bringing partners into the USDC ecosystem through a diverse and growing set of partnership models that span our work with exchanges, custodians, payments firms, asset issuers and more. We are excited to continue to build with a “big tent mentality” where the entire ecosystem can grow value together.
3) A consortium where everybody has a voice. Perhaps I have a cynical view, but the track record of consortium products achieving scale, P/M Fit or even basic product agility is absolutely dismal, and while there are examples of financial consortia that operate utilities, they are predictably slow moving. Large groups of large companies coordinate poorly, have misaligned incentives, slow things down and rarely create the space for real durable innovation and competitiveness. They also typically, out of their own self-interest, starve the consortium itself on an operating basis. We actually tried this in the early days of USDC, and even with a very small group, ran into endless challenges and complexity. Smaller, tighter strategic collaborations and commercial partnership arrangements with product and platform builders that can drive forward independently will almost always outcompete large consortiums. But oftentimes when these get formed, everyone feels like they should put their logo on the list, kiss the ring, and make noise about openness. But typically those same firms will turn to their operating units and make the best decisions for their customers, which often means partnering with the market leader and building durable win-win partnerships.
There’s also been a bunch of commentary on Circle's partnership with Coinbase and what this all means. Our stablecoin partnership with Coinbase remains as strong as ever, and I think we both see that enormous opportunity ahead to expand the USDC network.
A final comment: Circle remains committed to supporting a wide range of different products and infrastructures, even when we might compete with different aspects of those partners’ products in other areas of our business. With OUSD, we work closely with many of the founding members, and we expect that those same members will remain large USDC partners and customers. At the same time, as Circle has diversified our product and platform stack, expanding across Arc, CCTP, CPN, StableFX, Agent Stack and many other areas, we continue to expand the partnerships and collaboration with many other stablecoin issuers — dozens of them — to help them launch on Arc, leverage our interoperability infrastructure, get supported in our Wallets and become settlement and FX options on CPN and StableFX.
We are huge believers in growth in the stablecoin ecosystem and welcome OUSD as a new member of the community!
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SOLD
Maestro.trade for $19,988 USD
Congrats to the buyer!
.TRADE is a top-level domain that surged in popularity in 2025. Now, in 2026, it is a well-established TLD that has expanded into the prediction markets industry – where it feels like a perfect fit and a much stronger branding choice than .MARKETS.
.TRADE domains are now being used worldwide across categories such as crypto and DeFi, the aforementioned prediction markets, physical trade, logistics and commodities, brokerages, CFDs and TradFi trading, B2B wholesale and marketplaces, trade finance and compliance, gaming marketplaces, analytics and intelligence, and local and consumer businesses.
Here are several companies and projects building their brands on .TRADE:
Crypto & DeFi
● Liquid.trade: Multi-market trading platform for finding opportunities, sizing positions, and executing leveraged trades across web and mobile.
● Drift.trade: Decentralized on-chain trading platform on Solana for perpetual futures, spot trading, prediction markets, and yield products.
● Axiom.trade: DeFi trading platform for on-chain crypto markets, offering tools to trade memecoins, perpetuals, and yield products.
● RollX.trade: Base-native decentralized exchange for spot and perpetual crypto trading, combining self-custody with CEX-like execution and leveraged markets.
● Fly.trade: Cross-chain DeFi liquidity aggregation protocol that lets users swap crypto assets across multiple blockchains without manually using bridges or DEXs.
● Legend.trade: Social crypto trading platform where users discover top traders, track live positions, and copytrade directly through the Legend app.
● Catapult.trade: Crypto token launch and synthetic trading platform where users launch high-volatility tokens, trade provably fair charts, and earn from market volume.
● Phoenix.trade: Solana-based perpetuals trading platform offering leveraged crypto markets through a decentralized on-chain exchange interface.
● Gains.trade: Decentralized perpetuals exchange where users trade crypto, forex, stocks, indices, and commodities from their wallet with leveraged on-chain positions.
● Bulk.trade: High-performance decentralized exchange combining self-custody with CEX-like speed for fast, fair on-chain trading across many markets.
● Vend.trade: Self-custodial crypto trading platform for buying and selling tokens with simple onboarding, low minimums, and no trading fees.
● Click.trade: Upcoming crypto trading platform offering Chrome, Telegram, and terminal interfaces for spot and futures trading across web3 markets.
● Paragon.trade: Crypto trading platform with structured DeFi products and automated strategies for earning yield across on-chain markets.
● Margin.trade: Upcoming cross-margin trading platform for 24/7 leveraged markets across crypto, commodities, and stocks.
● Private.trade: Upcoming decentralized trading project positioning itself around privacy-focused market infrastructure.
● Decibel.trade: Aptos-based decentralized exchange for on-chain perpetuals, bringing fast self-custodial trading and market settlement to DeFi users.
● Ethereal.trade: Decentralized exchange for spot and perpetuals trading, powered by USDe and built around high-performance on-chain markets.
● Gradient.trade: Off-market DeFi trading protocol using coordinated order routing and market-maker liquidity to enable price-impact-free token swaps.
● Peanut.trade: Crypto market-making and TGE services company offering DEX liquidity management, MEV protection, and algorithmic trading strategies.
● Hotstuff.trade: DeFi Layer 1 for confidential on-chain trading, with perps, spot, and options on one margin account.
● Oku.trade: DeFi trading platform for swaps, bridges, limit orders, and Uniswap v3 liquidity management across multiple chains.
● Hyena.trade: USDe-margined perpetuals exchange for trading on-chain markets with capital-efficient collateral, native rewards, and Hyperliquid-powered execution.
● Cro.trade: Trading app on Cronos offering real-time token swaps, trending token discovery, and portfolio tracking for on-chain users.
● Power.trade: Crypto options and perpetuals trading platform offering altcoin derivatives markets with mobile and web trading access.
● Fullstack.trade: Upcoming crypto trading platform positioning itself as an all-in-one front end for on-chain trading.
● Livo.trade: Ethereum token-launch platform for deploying ERC-20 tokens with bonding-curve pricing, fair launches, instant liquidity, and automatic Uniswap graduation.
● Figment.trade: AI-powered perpetuals trading platform where users create autonomous trading agents, run strategies, and compete in on-chain trading arenas.
Prediction Markets & Event Trading
● Opinion.trade: Decentralized prediction market platform for creating, trading, and resolving real-world event markets using on-chain infrastructure and AI-assisted oracles.
● Stand.trade: Prediction market trading platform for discovering strategies, tracking wallets, copy trading, alerts, and automated execution across markets like Polymarket and Kalshi.
● Alphawhale.trade: Prediction market platform for following top Polymarket traders, tracking whale activity, managing positions, and automating trading strategies.
● Kairos.trade: Upcoming prediction market platform for trading event-based markets, tracking opportunities, and positioning around future outcomes.
● VDEX.trade: Zero-knowledge trading platform for crypto, stocks, commodities, FX, and prediction market perps with self-custody and zero gas fees.
● Omen.trade: Prediction market platform offering funded accounts, market tracking, and trading access across prediction markets, perps, crypto, and equities.
● Alpha.trade: Upcoming prediction market platform for trading across Kalshi, Polymarket, Manifold, and other markets with AI-powered news and real-time insights.
Physical Trade, Logistics & Commodities
● OzaGlobal.trade: Alaska-based international trade company connecting businesses with Latin American suppliers through sourcing, logistics, customs compliance, and quality control.
● Azurite.trade: International logistics company transporting metals, raw materials, and oversized cargo through rail, road, ocean, and project freight services.
● Akhdar.trade: Agribusiness trading company sourcing and supplying grains, oils, and oilmeals across international commodity markets.
● Publiko.trade: International trade consultancy helping companies with market entry, logistics, incentives, regulatory compliance, and cross-border business development.
● EngineParts.trade: Slovakia-based exporter of genuine, aftermarket, new, used, and remanufactured engine parts for trucks, buses, agricultural, and earthmoving equipment.
Brokerages, CFDs & Traditional Trading
● Upscale.trade: Web3 prop-trading platform where users complete trading challenges to access simulated funded accounts and keep a share of profits.
● Composer.trade: Automated trading platform where users build, backtest, and execute algorithmic investment strategies without needing to code.
● Bolt.trade: Upcoming F&O strategy platform helping traders discover backtested setups with defined entry, target, and stop-loss levels.
● CFI.trade: Global online broker offering forex, stocks, indices, commodities, ETFs, and CFD trading through multi-asset platforms.
● Hello.trade: Upcoming trading platform for global access to stocks, commodities, ETFs, crypto, and leveraged perpetuals.
● Versus.trade: Online CFD broker offering multi-asset trading through MetaTrader 5, including its proprietary Versus Pairs product.
● VaultMarkets.trade: South African forex broker offering multi-asset trading, account types, education, and MT4/MT5 access for retail traders.
● Arrow.trade: India-focused ultra-low-latency trading and brokerage platform by iRage Capital for stocks, options, and futures trading.
Trade Finance, Capital Markets & Compliance
● Mesh.trade: Digital capital markets platform for issuing, tokenising, trading, settling, and managing financial assets through blockchain-based market infrastructure.
● Trustnet.trade: Cargodian compliance platform helping businesses screen partners for KYB, sanctions, UBO, PEP, and supply-chain due-diligence risks.
● 360tf.trade: Trade finance platform helping businesses and banks manage letters of credit, document checks, working capital, and transaction workflows.
Marketplaces, Distribution & Commerce
● Nostra.trade: European FMCG supplier importing and distributing global-brand coffee, sweets, and beverages through B2B wholesale and export channels.
● Energynat.trade: European importer and distributor of photovoltaic systems, supplying solar modules, inverters, mounting systems, carports, and related PV equipment.
● Wego.trade: B2B food and beverage marketplace connecting suppliers, distributors, retailers, and restaurants through online ordering, promotions, and ERP integrations.
● Vilde.trade: European home and garden brand supplying kitchen, bathroom, storage, decoration, garden, and seasonal products through B2B wholesale channels.
● B2B.trade: Wholesale marketplace connecting manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and business buyers across FMCG, apparel, electronics, auto goods, and other categories.
● Oland.trade: Poland-based distributor of household appliances and consumer electronics, supplying B2B partners with branded products and logistics support.
● Maishima.trade: Osaka outdoor marché complex near Maishima sports and leisure facilities, featuring food, retail, events, and bike rentals.
● Kitayama.trade: Japanese importer specializing in premium Argentinian wines, offering direct imports, wholesale partnerships, tastings, and online sales.
Gaming, NFTs & Digital Asset Marketplaces
● Tensor.trade: Solana NFT marketplace and trading platform for buying, selling, bidding on, and managing digital collectibles with pro trader tools.
● ArcRaiders.trade: Community marketplace for ARC Raiders players to list, discover, and safely trade in-game items, blueprints, and offers.
● Bloxy.trade: Roblox item marketplace for buying and selling in-game items with automated bots, instant delivery, and secure trading workflows.
Data, Intelligence & Trade Analytics
● Cloudcraft.trade: Crypto trading platform offering whale tracking, liquidity maps, AI analysis, and proprietary indicators for active traders.
● Glint.trade: Prediction market intelligence platform mapping news, social signals, and OSINT data to Polymarket and Kalshi markets in real time.
● Tina.trade: UN ESCAP trade intelligence platform helping policymakers analyze tariffs, trade agreements, NTMs, and bilateral flows for trade negotiations.
That level of popularity allowed us to aim higher with our .TRADE domains and land sales such as Maestro.
.TRADE's strong, descriptive appearance, single-syllable pronunciation, and growing collectible appeal make it a solid choice for trading-related brands.
Given the strength and staying power of categories such as crypto, prediction markets, and trading in general, we feel confident that .TRADE domains will continue gaining ground.
In our estimation, our top .TRADE domains, such as Zero.trade, Space.trade, and Neural.trade, are already worth six figures.
Once again, congrats to the buyer on acquiring Maestro.
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