I just came across a pretty interesting phenomenon. Recently, AI Agent payment activity has exploded on-chain, with over 1.4 million transactions, 98.6% of which choose USDC. What does this data tell us?

I believe this is not just a technical choice. When AI Agents perform tasks, they need to pay for API calls, compute rental fees, data collection costs, and other expenses, with an average transaction cost of only $0.31. In traditional banking or credit card systems, processing such a transfer might cost more than the transaction itself. But what truly makes Agents choose USDC is the comprehensive technical solution provided by Circle. Through the Model Context Protocol, developers can embed wallet logic directly into AI code, and tools like Claude and Cursor can generate scripts that call USDC for payments directly. This ease of development is the fundamental reason why USDC has become the default payment option for Agents.

Moreover, Circle’s cross-chain transfer protocol solves the "last mile" problem. AI Agents often run on high-performance chains like Base and Solana, where transfer costs are less than a cent and transactions can be completed in seconds. For Agents that need to frequently cross chains to access resources, this is simply essential.

Looking at the bigger picture, Circle’s recent performance is definitely worth paying attention to. In early March, its stock price broke through $110, doubling from the low point at the start of the year. Behind this isn’t just market hype. The February financial report shows annual revenue of $2.7 billion, a 64% year-over-year increase. Q4 revenue alone was $770 million, up 77%. More importantly, excluding $424 million in stock-based compensation related to the IPO, Q4 net profit reached $133 million, with a clear improvement in profitability.

Geopolitical changes have also indirectly helped Circle. Rising oil prices have increased inflation expectations, reducing the likelihood of central bank rate cuts, and maintaining a high-interest-rate environment. For most companies, this is bad news, but for platforms like Circle that mainly earn interest on government bonds, higher rates mean higher reserve returns. USDC’s circulating supply has already reached $77.18 billion, and even small fluctuations in interest rate spreads can significantly boost net profits through leverage.

Even more interesting is USDC’s on-chain performance. In February, USDC’s monthly trading volume hit $1.26 trillion, accounting for 70% of total trading volume. Although USDT still has a larger market cap ($184.16B vs. $77.18B), trading velocity determines who truly controls the flow of funds. USDC is evolving from a store of value into a medium of exchange, increasingly used in institutional settlements, prediction markets, and cross-border trade. Visa’s integration is a turning point—by using USDC, settlement between acquirers and card issuers bypasses complex correspondent banking systems, enabling 24/7 on-chain settlement. The explosion of Polymarket also confirms this trend, with USDC becoming the universal currency in global event prediction markets.

So, Circle’s current position is quite interesting. It’s both an asset management firm earning interest spreads and a settlement network processing over $10 trillion in quarterly transactions. In Q4, USDC on-chain transaction volume reached $11.9 trillion, a 247% year-over-year increase. This scale is enough to threaten traditional payment giants.

From Agent payments to institutional settlements, from emerging markets to developed countries, Circle is building a complete on-chain settlement ecosystem. If you’re interested, you can check out Gate.io to see how USDC and related assets are performing—this story is far from over.