Number Of Salaries Paid In Crypto Triples In A Year With USDC The Favorite: Report

The number of professionals that are receiving their salaries in crypto has tripled between 2023 and 2024 with USD Coin (USDC) the preferred payment option amid Circle’s enterprise push, a report by Pantera Capital found

The findings were based on more than 1,600 responses from people living across 77 countries that all work in the crypto industry. 

Pantera Capital said in its report that 9.6% of crypto professionals were paid in digital assets in 2024, up from the 3% figure in 2023.

Circle’s USDC Leads The Way In Payrolls

Despite Tether’s USDT being the largest stablecoin by market cap and the most traded in terms of daily volumes, rival token USDC emerged as the clear favorite for crypto payments.

In the report, the firm said that USDC accounted for 63% of all crypto payrolls.

Pantera Capital added that they initially thought USDC’s dominance had something to do with the survey being skewed “more western.” 

“After digging in further, we found it very interesting that none of the major payroll providers in the space (Deel, Remote, Rippling) offer USDT for payroll,” the firm said. 

Combined, USDT and USDC accounted for over 90% of the reported payments. 

Circle Pushes For Enterprise Adoption

The preference of USDC over USDT may have something to do with Circle’s aggressive enterprise push as it tries to position USDC for institutional payments, B2B financial infrastructure and payroll.

In March last year, Circle partnered with the parent firm of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Intercontinental Exchange (ICO). With this partnership, the companies are exploring USDC and tokenized fund integration in global derivatives markets.

Circle then went on to apply for a federal trust bank charter with the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency two months after announcing that partnership. 

Circle’s momentum was further boosted by its NYSE debut earlier this year and US President Donald Trump’s signing of the GENIUS stablecoin act.