USDC on Base ranks among the largest stablecoin routes by on-chain transfer value, yet it lags behind USDT networks in merchant payments processed by NOWPayments, according to a Glassnode report published November 10.
USDT on Tron, BNB Chain, and Ethereum collectively accounts for 86% of stablecoin pay-in value at NOWPayments. The leading on-chain trio—USDC on Base, USDC on Ethereum, and USDT on Tron—represents 54% of on-chain transfer value.
Divergent Metrics
The comparison spans September 2025 to September 2026. On one side lies the distribution of USDT and USDC transfer value across blockchain routes; on the other, the distribution of stablecoin pay-in value observed by NOWPayments.
USDT on Tron and BNB Chain generates approximately 75% of NOWPayments’ stablecoin pay-in value, while those same routes carry just 14% of combined on-chain USDT and USDC transfer value in the comparison.
A route’s share of blockchain transfers does not establish its share of merchant pay-ins.
NOWPayments is one processor. Value shares do not measure transactions, customers, retail purchases or global merchant market share.
Pay-in value measures monetary flow but cannot establish how many retail purchases occurred. Glassnode notes the research covers trading, e-commerce, software-as-a-service, and iGaming merchants, so the processor’s receipts should not be treated as a survey of ordinary retail spending.
The public summary leaves merchant counts, geography, payment-value concentration, and conversion treatment unspecified. Those gaps limit any attempt to extend the findings to global merchant market share or determine whether a few large customers dominate the results.
NOWPayments’ merchant setup instructions direct businesses to choose accepted customer currencies in Coin settings, making merchant configuration a possible influence alongside customer demand.
The payment firm also announced an offer on October 30, 2025, giving new users two months without network fees on USDT-on-Tron deposits. Its current offer page requires new partners to activate custody and advertises 60 days without network fees. The timing makes the promotion relevant to interpreting the processor’s mix, although it does not establish that the offer produced Tron’s share.
Base’s USDC Transfer Activity Answers a Different Question
An August 11 analysis by Talos and Coin Metrics attributed 69% of Base USDC raw transfer volume to decentralized-exchange liquidity provision and 23% to flash loans.
The tagged categories were described as lower-bound estimates, while activity outside them could include payments, bridging, treasury movements, and other settlement.
That historical analysis uses a different window and denominator than the Glassnode merchant comparison and cannot explain why NOWPayments received its particular mix or turn transfer activity into evidence of lost sales.
The practical test for merchants is whether the routes they offer match their customers’ incoming payments at an acceptable full cost. Broader, comparable merchant coverage would be needed to turn one processor’s experience into a global assessment of Base.
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