Stablecoins: USDT, USDC, Attestations, and Risks
The stablecoins hub: how USDT and USDC back their tokens, how to read a reserve attestation, what happens in a depeg, and where the risks really sit.
Stablecoins are tokens engineered to hold a fixed value, usually one dollar. This hub covers the major issues, how each token proves its reserves, what attestations do and do not claim, and how the risks compare. Every figure carries its date and its source.
What this hub covers
A stablecoin is a token built to hold one value, most often one US dollar. The idea is simple. The practice is a stack of legal claims, reserve portfolios, and accounting reports, and that stack is where all the real questions live. This hub holds the pages that answer them.
The pages below cover the two largest dollar stablecoins, USDT and USDC, in full: who issues them, what backs them, what their reports say, and what they charge to redeem. From there the hub widens to the questions that apply to every token: how to read an attestation, how the two majors compare on facts, and what a safety review actually checks.
The two majors, stated plainly
USDT is issued by Tether. Its latest quarterly report covers the quarter ended 30 June 2026. It states total assets of $187.75 billion. It states total liabilities of $183.64 billion [1]. BDO Italia examined the report under ISAE 3000 Revised, at the reasonable assurance level. That makes it an attestation, not a financial statement audit. The difference matters, and the attestations page explains what it is.
USDC is issued by Circle. Its July 2026 examination report states reserves of $71.90 billion as of 31 July 2026. The reserves sit in a US government money market fund plus segregated accounts [3].
Deloitte & Touche LLP performed the examination. The issuer’s own page put circulation at $74.3 billion as of 7 September 2026. Reserve figures move with their report dates. Both figures above carry their dates, and the dates are load-bearing.
Both tokens move across multiple networks. The split matters for fees and finality. Tether’s own transparency render, stamped 9 September 2026, showed the Tron leg of USDT at $92.30 billion. It showed the Ethereum leg at $86.30 billion [2]. The two legs together carry most of the token. The USDC-on-Tron story has its own correction to read: see USDC on Tron.
How to use these pages
Start with the token pages if you need figures. The USDT page and the USDC page each carry a verified fact table: reserves, composition, chain rosters, and fees, every row dated and sourced. If you are choosing between them, the comparison page sets the two fact tables side by side and states what would change the answer.
If you are asking the harder question, start with is USDT safe. That page walks a criteria list, not a verdict: reserve quality, redemption mechanics, attestation depth, and regulatory standing, each stated as a checkable fact. Safety pages on this site never conclude for you.
Beyond the majors, five more tokens carry verified panels, each with its own report trail. Sky dollar is the decentralized flagship with its supply-metric lessons. PYUSD is the Paxos-issued, PayPal-branded dollar. USDe runs the custodian-attestation model. PAXG is the gold token, one troy ounce per token. USD1 is the BitGo Bank issuance, facts only. The wider question of what to weigh before trusting any of them is the risks page, six checks, dated values, no verdicts.
What every reader should know once
Three facts frame this whole pillar. First, attestation figures are issuer-commissioned: the issuer hires the accounting firm, and the report says what the firm examined, not everything that is true [1]. Second, reserve composition differs, and composition is where risk hides; a report’s categories are published verbatim on each token page. Third, redemption is a contract term with a fee schedule, not a promise of free money; both issuers publish theirs, and both pages transcribe them [3].
The depeg register is the fourth leg of this pillar. When a token breaks its peg, the register carries the dated cases, and every depth figure is attributed to its feed, venue, or pair. The word itself is defined in the glossary.
Where this hub sits
The stablecoins hub is one of six. Bitcoin has its own hub, the networks both run on sit under chains, spending them is covered at spend, the basics and the glossary live at cryptocurrency, and the rules that govern all of it start at regulation. Each hub links the others, so the trail never dead-ends.
Guides and facts
- Stablecoin Attestations: How to Read the Reports
How to read a stablecoin attestation: the assurance tiers, what an examination opines on, and why none of these reports is an audit of the issuer.
- Stablecoin Depeg Events: A Dated Case Register
A dated register of stablecoin depeg events: UST in 2022, USDC in 2023, FDUSD and USDe in 2025, every depth figure attributed to its feed, venue, or pair.
- Is USDT Safe? Six Checks, No Verdicts
Is USDT safe? No page can rank safety for you. This one walks six checks with dated sources: attestation, reserves, redemption, registers, chains, and history.
- PAXG: One Troy Ounce Per Token, Allocated Vault Gold
PAXG from its July 2026 report: 442,217 fine troy ounces of allocated gold, bought from StoneX, stored at Brink's and ICBC Standard, under KPMG monthly.
- PYUSD: Issued by Paxos, Branded PayPal, Examined by KPMG
PYUSD from the reports: Paxos N.A. issues it, PayPal owns the brand, KPMG examines it monthly, and July 2026 read 2.69 billion tokens in assets.
- USD1: BitGo Bank-Issued, Report Facts Only
USD1 from its reports index: issued by BitGo Bank and Trust under OCC charter 25366, with monthly attestations, July 2026 latest. Facts only here.
- USDC (Circle): Reserves, Examination, Fees, and Chains
What backs USDC: the July 2026 examination figures, the Circle Reserve Fund composition, the redemption tiers, the 37-chain roster, and the firms behind it.
- USDC on Tron: Discontinued in 2024, What Remains Today
Circle discontinued USDC on Tron in February 2024 and closed its transfer window in February 2025. This page gives the dated record and what remains.
- USDC vs USDT: Reserves, Reports, Fees, and Chains Compared
USDC and USDT compared on dated facts: reserve totals and composition, assurance firms and cadence, redemption terms, and chain rosters, with no verdict.
- USDe: Ethena's Dollar, Backing Assets, and the Reserve Fund
USDe from its own posts: 4.05 billion dollars at six named custodians, a 62 million reserve fund, and a monthly attestation that is not an audit.
- The Sky Dollar: DAI's Successor, Supply and Collateral
The Sky Dollar on primary reads: the on-chain supply counts, the DAI rename and its converter, BA Labs collateral data, variable rates, and the collision.
- USDT (Tether): Reserves, Attestations, Fees, and Chains
What backs USDT: the Q2 2026 attestation figures verbatim, the reserve composition, the fee schedule, the chain split, and the entity behind the token.
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