USDT on TRON Leads E-Commerce Payments as USDC Counts Triple

USDT on TRON processed 54.58% of successful stablecoin payments in e-commerce marketplaces in the first half of 2026, according to a joint report from on-chain analytics firm Glassnode and payment processor NOWPayments released on November 10, 2026. The study, titled "Stablecoins in Commerce," is the first installment of Glassnode's new Money in Motion research series. It pairs Glassnode's on-chain view of USDT and USDC flows with NOWPayments' checkout-level records of how merchants actually get paid.

The report's purpose is practical: it aims to show businesses which coins and which networks they should consider accepting. That choice determines fees, settlement speed, and whether customers can pay at all.

Who is actually paying in stablecoins?

The customer mix on NOWPayments shifted measurably between January and July 2026. SaaS and e-commerce businesses made up 55.54% of the processor's classified partners during that window, up from 48.26% a year earlier.

Software subscriptions and online shops now account for more than half of the partners NOWPayments could classify. Trading's share of payments shrank over the same period, a change the report frames as commerce crowding out speculation on the platform.

Where does each stablecoin dominate?

The network-level data shows sharp divergence between use cases. USDT on TRON took 54.58% of successful payments in e-commerce marketplaces — but only 12.04% in the trading category.

That gap illustrates how a single chain can dominate one vertical while trailing badly in another. A marketplace selling goods online effectively operates in a USDT-on-TRON world, while a trading-focused business faces a far more fragmented mix of tokens and networks.

On raw volume, USDT remains the heavyweight. It held a 66.92% share of stablecoin transaction volume on NOWPayments in the first half of 2026. That dominance came alongside a 14.99% year-over-year decline in volume.

USDC told a different story. Its transaction count rose 209.02% year-over-year over the same period. The metric counts transactions, not dollar value, so USDC is being used far more often even as USDT still moves the bulk of the money. The research summary attributes the surge to broader USDC adoption among retailers and service providers.

NOWPayments had already published data in August and October 2026 showing USDT's lead in transaction volume on its platform. The new report builds on those releases by adding Glassnode's on-chain layer.

Why combine on-chain data with checkout data?

Most stablecoin analysis examines the blockchain alone. That reveals supply, transfers, and wallet activity — but it cannot easily separate a merchant payment from an exchange shuffle between internal wallets.

Payment processors see the opposite side of that problem. They know what each transaction was for, but only within their own customer base. The Money in Motion series merges the two perspectives: on-chain breadth from Glassnode, transaction-level intent from NOWPayments.

What does this mean for merchants and issuers?

For businesses, the report's immediate takeaway is that one size does not fit all. A merchant choosing which assets to accept should weigh where its customers already transact, and the data suggests those habits differ sharply by vertical.

The USDC trend adds a second consideration. A 209.02% jump in transaction count implies a growing pool of customers who want to settle in that token, even if individual USDC payments remain smaller on average than USDT transfers.

For stablecoin issuers, the data points to a split in roles. USDT keeps the volume crown, but its 14.99% decline shows that lead is not expanding on NOWPayments. USDC appears to be winning on frequency.

What are the limits of the data?

The figures describe NOWPayments' own partners, not the entire stablecoin market. A single processor's customer base can tilt results toward particular regions, networks, or industries, and the report does not claim exchange-level or issuer-level coverage.

Glassnode positions Money in Motion as an ongoing series. Future installments will show whether USDC's transaction growth holds, whether USDT's 66.92% volume share stabilizes or erodes further, and whether commerce continues to displace trading as the dominant use case on merchant payment rails.