USDC payment benchmark | 34 chains
The real cost of sending USDC across blockchains.
Stablecoin payments only work at scale when fees are low, predictable, and fast.
Lowest fee
<$0.00001
Highest fee
$0.034
Fee multiple
~14,395x
01 / Live ranking
Fee comparison | $1 USDC transfer
Last updated | Jun 18, 2026, 10:34 PM
RankingSorted by est. fee | ascending
| # | Blockchain | Est. fee | % of $1 | Finality | Native USDC | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 |  StellarBest value XLM | <$0.00001 | 0.0002% | ~5s Fast finality | Yes | Built for payments. Base fee 100 stroops. |
| 02 |  Avalanche C-Chain AVAX | <$0.00001 | 0.0010% | ~2s Fast finality | Yes | EVM compatible; fees vary with the base fee. |
| 03 |  XRPL XRP | $0.00001 | 0.0011% | ~3-5s Ledger close | Yes | Payment-focused ledger. Existing trustline assumed for USDC transfers. |
| 04 |  XDC XDC | $0.00003 | 0.0029% | ~2s EVM chain | Yes | EVM-compatible chain. Quote uses live gas price and a standard token transfer estimate. |
| 05 |  Injective INJ | $0.00006 | 0.0055% | ~1s EVM layer | Yes | Circle USDC support is scoped to the EVM layer. Cosmos-layer deposits are excluded from this benchmark. |
| 06 |  Algorand ALGO | $0.0001 | 0.0098% | ~3.3s Instant finality | Yes | Fixed 0.001 ALGO per transaction. Predictable, sub-cent cost. |
| 07 |  Codex ETH | $0.00011 | 0.011% | ~2s EVM chain | Yes | EVM-compatible USDC network. Quote uses live gas price and a standard token transfer estimate. |
| 08 |  Ink ETH | $0.00011 | 0.011% | ~2s L2 Ethereum settlement | Yes | Ethereum L2. Quote uses live gas price and a standard token transfer estimate. |
| 09 |  OP Mainnet ETH | $0.00011 | 0.011% | ~2s L2, ~20m L1 L2 inclusion, Ethereum finality | Yes | OP Stack L2. Fee includes execution, L1 data, and operator components. |
| 10 |  Sonic S | $0.00011 | 0.011% | ~1s Fast finality | Yes | EVM-compatible chain. Quote uses live gas price and a standard token transfer estimate. |
| 11 |  Morph ETH | $0.00013 | 0.013% | ~2s L2 Ethereum settlement | Yes | Ethereum L2. Quote uses live gas price and a standard token transfer estimate. |
| 12 |  Monad MON | $0.00014 | 0.014% | ~1s EVM chain | Yes | High-throughput EVM chain. Quote uses live gas price and a standard token transfer estimate. |
| 13 |  Unichain ETH | $0.00017 | 0.017% | ~1s L2 Ethereum settlement | Yes | Ethereum L2. Quote uses live gas price and a standard token transfer estimate. |
| 14 |  World Chain ETH | $0.00017 | 0.017% | ~2s L2 Ethereum settlement | Yes | Ethereum L2. Quote uses live gas price and a standard token transfer estimate. |
| 15 |  Sei SEI | $0.0002 | 0.020% | ~0.5s Fast finality | Yes | EVM-compatible USDC path on Sei. Quote uses live gas price and a token transfer estimate. |
| 16 |  Sui SUI | $0.00022 | 0.022% | ~1s Fast finality | Yes | Move-based L1. Quote uses reference gas price and a simple transfer estimate. |
| 17 |  Solana SOL | $0.00035 | 0.035% | ~13s Probabilistic | Yes | Variable under congestion; priority fees are common. |
| 18 |  Pharos PROS | $0.0004 | 0.040% | ~2s EVM chain | Yes | EVM-compatible USDC network. Quote uses live gas price and a standard token transfer estimate. |
| 19 |  HyperEVM HYPE | $0.00044 | 0.044% | ~1-2s EVM chain | Yes | Hyperliquid EVM network. Quote uses live gas price and a simple USDC transfer estimate. |
| 20 |  Base ETH | $0.00066 | 0.066% | ~2s L2, ~20m L1 L2 inclusion, Ethereum finality | Yes | OP Stack L2. Fee includes L2 execution and L1 security/data costs. |
| 21 |  Plume PLUME | $0.00076 | 0.076% | ~2s EVM chain | Yes | EVM-compatible USDC network. Quote uses live gas price and a standard token transfer estimate. |
| 22 |  Celo CELO | $0.00082 | 0.082% | ~5s Fast finality | Yes | Mobile-first Ethereum L2. Fees can be paid in CELO or supported fee currencies. |
| 23 |  Starknet STRK | $0.00091 | 0.091% | ~2-6s Ethereum settlement | Yes | Starknet USDC transfer. Quote uses a Starknet-specific fee estimate. |
| 24 |  Aptos APT | $0.00095 | 0.095% | <1s Fast finality | Yes | Move-based L1. Quote uses gas price and a conservative USDC transfer estimate. |
| 25 |  Hedera HBAR | $0.001 | 0.100% | ~3-5s Hashgraph consensus | Yes | HTS native USDC. Quote tracks recent token-transfer fees from Mirror Node. |
| 26 |  Polygon PoS POL | $0.0014 | 0.142% | ~5s soft Sidechain checkpoint | Yes | Low transaction fees; POL is the Polygon PoS gas token. |
| 27 |  NEAR NEAR | $0.0022 | 0.220% | ~1-2s Fast finality | Yes | Quote uses live NEAR gas price and a fungible-token transfer gas estimate. |
| 28 |  EDGE ETH | $0.0022 | 0.221% | ~2s EVM chain | Yes | EVM-compatible USDC network. Quote uses live gas price and a standard token transfer estimate. |
| 29 |  Arbitrum One ETH | $0.0022 | 0.222% | ~1s L2, L1 varies L2 inclusion, Ethereum settlement | Yes | Fees are paid in ETH; cost depends on L2 execution and L1 data. |
| 30 |  Polkadot Asset Hub DOT | $0.0039 | 0.387% | ~12s Polkadot finality | Yes | Asset Hub native asset transfer. Quote uses a dedicated Asset Hub fee estimate. |
| 31 |  Linea ETH | $0.0046 | 0.463% | ~2s L2 Ethereum settlement | Yes | Ethereum L2. Quote uses live gas price and a standard token transfer estimate. |
| 32 |  ZKsync Era ETH | $0.0050 | 0.500% | ~1s L2 Ethereum settlement | Yes | Ethereum L2. Quote uses live gas price and a standard token transfer estimate until a ZKsync-specific estimator is added. |
| 33 |  Ethereum ETH | $0.015 | 1.53% | ~13m Probabilistic, ~2 epochs | Yes | L1 settlement layer. Not designed for micro-payments. |
| 34 |  Noble USDC | $0.034 | 3.39% | ~1.5s CometBFT finality | Yes | Native USDC appchain. Fees are paid directly in USDC. |
Sorted by estimated fee, ascending. Fees shown in USD.Estimates | not financial advice
Visual | log scaleFee % of $1 transfer | highest/lowest ~14,395x
StellarAvalanche C-ChainXRPLXDCInjectiveAlgorandCodexInkOP MainnetSonicMorphMonadUnichainWorld ChainSeiSuiSolanaPharosHyperEVMBasePlumeCeloStarknetAptosHederaPolygon PoSNEAREDGEArbitrum OnePolkadot Asset HubLineaZKsync EraEthereumNoble$0$0.01$0.05
03 / Methodology
How fees are estimated
Transparent, reproducible, and intentionally conservative. Open to scrutiny; pull requests welcome.
01
USD conversion
Network transaction fees are converted to USD using a recent reference price for each chain's fee currency.
02
Congestion variance
Some chains have variable fees that rise during network congestion; ranges represent typical conditions.
03
Predictable vs. dynamic
Chains like Algorand and Stellar have fixed or near-fixed minimum transaction fees. EVM L1/L2 fees fluctuate with gas prices and data costs.
04
Finality approximation
Confirmation and finality times are approximate and depend on the consensus mechanism of each chain.
05
Native USDC support
Whether USDC is issued natively by Circle on the chain, or arrives via a bridge. Native is generally lower-risk.
06
Live data sources
Public RPC endpoints, on-chain explorers, and Circle's published mint locations. Data sources will be linked when integrated.
04 / Context
Why small transfer fees matter
Stablecoins promise programmable money. That promise gets harder to keep when a $1 transfer costs $1.85 to send.
uP
Micropayments
Tipping, in-app purchases, and pay-per-use APIs only work when fees are a tiny fraction of the transaction.
C$
Creator payments
Splitting revenue across thousands of small payouts requires near-zero per-transaction overhead.
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API payments
Programmatic, machine-to-machine billing demands predictable, sub-cent fees at high request volumes.
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Cross-border
Remittances and B2B settlement compete directly with traditional rails on cost, speed, and reliability.
MR
SaaS subscriptions
Monthly recurring stablecoin charges only make sense when network fees do not eat the margin.
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On-chain commerce
Checkout flows need fast finality and low fees to feel comparable to card networks.
A blockchain is more useful for payments when sending small amounts is cheap, fast, and predictable. Fee structure is a design choice, not an accident.