USDC: market cap grew 18.8 times. Price barely changed
At year-end 2020 and 2025: $3.9B → $73.4B. A token cost about $1 on both dates. The issued supply grew.
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Market capitalization can rise because there are more tokens at the same price. This is not the return from holding one token.
Both lines use one scale: year-end 2020 = 100. These are growth indices, not dollars. Points are December 31; intra-year fluctuations are not shown.
- USDC: year-end market capitalization billion USD
2020: 3.91
- USDC: year-end market capitalization billion USD
2025: 73.4
- USDC: year-end price USD per token
2020: 1.0001
- USDC: year-end price USD per token
2025: 0.9996
- USDC: year-end current supply million native units
2020: 3,912.9
- USDC: year-end current supply million native units
2025: 73,426.58
Index = 100 × value / 2020 value. Coin Metrics market cap equals price times supply: an accounting identity, not an independent statistical finding.
Annual points do not establish a constant peg between them. Market cap is neither net inflows nor an independent reserve audit. Coin Metrics asset scope; CC BY-NC 4.0.
A question for this picture
When a market grows, did its price rise or its quantity?