Pornhub Ditches Tether’s USDT for Circle’s USDC

• Pornhub replaced Tether’s USDT with Circle’s USDC for creator payouts across its platform.
• The company cited payout reliability, compliance, and stronger backing as key reasons.
• USDT still leads the stablecoin market with a $188B market cap, versus USDC at $78.25B.

Adult platform Pornhub has dropped Tether’s USDT for payouts and moved to Circle’s USDC across its payment system.

The change surfaced through an email screenshot shared by creator Gracie Hartie. In the message, Pornhub said USDC would make payouts “more reliable” and described the token as fully backed, MiCA-compliant, and regulated.

Pornhub’s model payment page now lists USDC instead of USDT. Other options shown include Paxum, Verge, and Cosmo.

Why Pornhub Made the Switch

Pornhub has a long history of payment disruption. Visa and Mastercard cut ties with the platform in 2020 after public scrutiny.

PayPal also stopped payouts to thousands of creators that same year. Pornhub then turned to crypto rails, adopting USDT as a core payout option. 

At the time, USDT on Tron solved a practical problem. Transactions were fast, fees were low, and payouts could continue outside traditional banking channels.

Now the pressure has changed and speed is no longer the only issue. Compliance, banking access, and reserve transparency appear to be driving the latest move. Pornhub told users USDC is pegged 1:1 to the US dollar and works similarly to USDT on ERC-20 rails.

Circle Wins a High-Volume Platform

Pornhub remains one of the most visited websites in the world, often ranking inside the global top 10 to 15 by traffic trackers.

The transition to USDC moves a high-frequency consumer platform onto Circle’s payment rails, creating steady, stablecoin transaction demand.

For Circle, this is a useful real-world test. Adult content payouts require consistent processing, cross-border transfers, and large user volumes. If USDC handles that flow smoothly, it strengthens Circle’s pitch to other online platforms.

However, Pornhub’s switch does not change the wider stablecoin balance. USDT remains the market leader by a wide margin. According to CoinGecko data cited this week, Tether’s market cap rose 2.1% to nearly $188 billion after recent DeFi market stress.

USDC also grew, but at a slower pace, rising 1.4% to $78.25 billion. Analysts say periods of DeFi stress often favor USDT because of deeper liquidity on centralized exchanges. When users want to exit risk quickly, USDT often has the fastest path.

Related: Circle Sued Over $230M USDC Transfers After Drift Hack