PNC adds USDC payments; USDC market cap is $68.26 billion

PNC Bank has put stablecoins into its corporate payments product. The step is small, but it ties a large U.S. bank to the largest dollar token on Ethereum that a regulated bank would use for this purpose. This article sets out what PNC announced and how USDC looks in our on-chain count.

What did PNC announce on November 9, 2026?

PNC Bank announced on Nov. 9, 2026 that it is making incoming USDC payments available to PNC Corporate & Institutional Banking clients. Clients can receive payments in USDC, a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin, on the Ethereum blockchain, powered by Coinbase Payment products.

The solution builds on PNC's existing relationship with Coinbase and the bank's investment in its Treasury Management capabilities. PNC tapped Coinbase last year to offer crypto trading to its customers through Coinbase's institutional crypto-as-a-service platform.

The release gives the scope in one line: "PNC is initially offering the service on a limited basis to eligible clients as part of a pilot program."

How do the USDC payments work?

Clients receive USDC on Ethereum, and it is automatically converted 1-to-1 into U.S. dollars and deposited into a designated PNC deposit account. This lets companies use stablecoin payment infrastructure without holding the digital assets in their deposit accounts.

The pilot is narrow. The bank would not disclose how many companies take part, and clients can receive incoming USDC only. PNC did not disclose eligibility criteria, fees or transaction limits.

PNC describes the aim as learning. Tom Lang, head of treasury management product and operations at PNC, said the work is about "testing and learning with our clients."

How big is USDC on-chain?

USDC is the stablecoin issued by Circle. As of November 11, 2026, USDC had a market cap of $68.26 billion on public blockchains, by The Migration by Concrete's count. It ranks 2 of 6 cash-backed dollar stablecoins in our count, with 26.9% of the total.

Our reads cover 98.0% of the $69.67 billion the issuer reports. The 7-day change was -$1.50 billion. USDC sits on 11 blockchains in our count.

The full cash-backed set was $253.75 billion as of November 11, 2026, from 6 stablecoins across 5 issuers on 18 blockchains. See the stablecoin list and the count page. Our earlier piece on the market is here.

How much USDC is on Ethereum, the chain PNC uses?

PNC's pilot runs on Ethereum. As of November 11, 2026, Ethereum held $45.44 billion of USDC in our count. That is the largest single chain for the token.

For the whole cash-backed set, Ethereum held $130.01 billion as of the same date, 51.2% of the total. Tron held $92.24 billion. Tether's USDT is the largest token at $174.20 billion.

We count only cash-backed dollar stablecoins. We leave out crypto-backed dollars and bridged copies of the same coin, so no dollar is counted twice. Totals that include every dollar-pegged token are higher.

Why does this matter for banks?

The pilot is a payments service, not a deposit product. PNC converts the token to dollars on receipt, so the client's balance stays in a bank account. That differs from a bank issuing its own token. For that distinction, see our explainer on tokenized deposits vs stablecoins.

The stated benefits are speed and reach. The companies said the service will give businesses quicker access to funds and improve the speed of cross-border transactions. Coinbase's Alec Lovett called it part of a broader story about convergence between traditional finance institutions and crypto and stablecoin infrastructure.

Other banks are moving on stablecoin rails too. Our coverage of Ripple's RLUSD and its trust bank and of Standard Chartered's tokenised deposits shows the range.

What to watch

• Whether PNC widens the pilot beyond eligible clients, or adds outgoing payments.
• Whether PNC discloses volumes, fees or the number of clients.
• The USDC market cap on our count page, which updates every 6 hours.
• Whether other U.S. banks announce similar incoming-payment services on Ethereum.