The percentage of stablecoin USD Coin (USDC) supply held by the top 1% addresses dropped to a 22-month low on Monday, while USDC average trading volume in seven days surged to an all-time high on the same day, according to crypto data dashboard Glassnode.
See related article: Vitalik Buterin says he used Tornado Cash to donate to Ukraine
Fast facts
- The total supply of USDC has shrunk by $100 million over the past week, and Glassnode’s chart also shows USDC deposits hit a 17-month low on Monday.
- In early August, USDC froze more than 75,000 USDC in 44 Tornado Cash-related addresses in response to the U.S. Treasury Department’s sanctions against the Ethereum-based cryptocurrency mixer.
- USDC is managed by a consortium called Centre, which was founded by crypto lender Circle and includes members of crypto exchange Coinbase and Bitcoin mining giant Bitmain.
- USDC’s market capitalization dropped by US$2 billion in the two weeks since it announced it was freezing the Tornado Cash-related addresses, according to CoinMarketCap.
- Crypto analyst @TheLondonCrypto noted last week that he saw more than $1.6 billion has been transferred from USDC to its competitor stablecoin Tether (USDT) after the freeze was announced.
- USDT has so far not announced that it will freeze Tornado Cash-related addresses or any public response to the sanctions.
- Tornado Cash has been controversial because it protects transaction privacy while it has been accused of being a money-laundering tool for crimes.
See related article: Bad actors in North Korea, Russia send record-high funds to crypto mixers