DAI: stablecoins rating breakdown
Sky · crypto-backed
The original decentralised stablecoin and still the most widely integrated one across DeFi — $4.78bn across 49 chains, and a contract that has held its promise through every crisis since 2017 without an issuer’s permission being required to redeem.
The original decentralised stablecoin and still the most widely integrated one across DeFi — $4.78bn across 49 chains, and a contract that has held its promise through every crisis since 2017 without an issuer’s permission being required to redeem.
How the score is built
Each criterion is scored 0–10 and weighted. The median column is the middle score across every entry in this ranking, so a row reads as a position rather than a number.
| Criterion | What we measured | Weight | Score | Category median | Rank | Weighted gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What is behind it, and who verifies that | — | 32% | 7 | 7 | 5 of 9 | 0.00 |
| Peg record, and the deviation right now | +0.0048% deviation from $1.00 · measured · 2026-08-27 · source | 25% | 6 | 8 | 7 of 9 | -0.50 |
| Who can freeze your balance | — | 18% | 6 | 4 | 1 of 9 | +0.36 |
| Supply and where it is accepted | $4.78bn circulating supply · sourced · 2026-08-27 · source49 chains · sourced · 2026-08-27 · source | 15% | 7 | 6 | 3 of 9 | +0.15 |
| Who keeps the interest on the reserves | — | 10% | 4 | 4 | 5 of 9 | 0.00 |
Measured 27 August 2026 · weights and method · decided by peg record, and the deviation right now, worth -0.50 points against the median
What is behind it, and who verifies that: 7/10
Sourced to primary documents: what the reserves actually hold, who attests and how often, and — the distinction the industry blurs deliberately — whether that is a full audit or a point-in-time attestation. A monthly attestation by a named accounting firm and a quarterly self-published summary are not the same instrument, and neither is an audit. Crypto-backed and synthetic designs are judged on their own terms: the collateral ratio, where the collateral lives, and what it does in a drawdown.
Scored 7 of 10 against a category median of 7, which places it 5th of 9 among stablecoins on this criterion. At a 32% weight that is exactly level with the median of the weighted total. The best score in the category is 9, the worst 3.
Peg record, and the deviation right now: 6/10
Every historical break with its date, depth and cause, plus the live deviation from $1.00 measured at a stated timestamp. Both halves matter: the current price says almost nothing on a quiet day, and the history says everything about what happens on a violent one.
Scored 6 of 10 against a category median of 8, which places it 7th of 9 among stablecoins on this criterion. At a 25% weight that is 0.50 points below the median contribution of the weighted total. The best score in the category is 8, the worst 3.
Who can freeze your balance: 6/10
Whether the issuer can blacklist an address, whether it has actually done so, and at whose request. Nearly every fiat-backed stablecoin can freeze funds — that is not a defect, it is the design, and it is the single fact most likely to matter to a holder who never reads a reserve report. We record it as a fact rather than a moral judgement.
Scored 6 of 10 against a category median of 4, which places it 1st of 9 among stablecoins on this criterion. At a 18% weight that is 0.36 points above the median contribution of the weighted total. The best score in the category is 6, the worst 2.
Supply and where it is accepted: 7/10
Circulating supply and the number of chains it genuinely circulates on, from public data at a stated timestamp. Supply is the closest available proxy for whether you can exit at size without moving the price.
Scored 7 of 10 against a category median of 6, which places it 3rd of 9 among stablecoins on this criterion. At a 15% weight that is 0.15 points above the median contribution of the weighted total. The best score in the category is 10, the worst 4.
Who keeps the interest on the reserves: 4/10
The reserves behind a large fiat-backed stablecoin earn a market rate. We record who receives that: the issuer, the holder, or a distributor. It is the least discussed economic fact in the category and it is worth billions a year.
Scored 4 of 10 against a category median of 4, which places it 5th of 9 among stablecoins on this criterion. At a 10% weight that is exactly level with the median of the weighted total. The best score in the category is 9, the worst 2.
Its nearest neighbours in this ranking
| # | Entry | Peg record, and the deviation right now | How it differs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | PYUSD | 8 | Ahead by 2 on peg record, and the deviation right now. |
| 4 | USDG | 8 | Ahead by 2 on peg record, and the deviation right now. |
| 6 | RLUSD | 8 | Ahead by 2 on peg record, and the deviation right now. |
| 7 | USDT | 8 | Ahead by 2 on peg record, and the deviation right now. |
Incidents priced into this score
- 2023-03-11 — DAI traded below its peg alongside USDC, because a large share of its collateral at the time was USDC, which had fallen to roughly $0.87 over reserves stuck at Silicon Valley Bank. The peg recovered with USDC’s. [users made whole: n/a] [source]
Questions about this score
Why did DAI depeg in March 2023 if it is decentralised?
+
Because a large part of its collateral was USDC, and USDC had fallen to roughly $0.87 over $3.3bn of reserves stuck at Silicon Valley Bank. Decentralised governance does not insulate a token from the assets backing it. DAI recovered as USDC did, and the episode remains the clearest demonstration in this category that the label describes the governance model, not the risk.
Is DAI still backed by USDC?
+
Less than it was, and the composition is public — which is the actual advantage of this design. Collateral has been diversified and rotated substantially since 2023, including into real-world assets, and anyone can inspect the on-chain portion at any time rather than waiting for a quarterly report.