PYUSD: stablecoins rating breakdown
Paxos for PayPal · fiat-backed
The strongest regulatory wrapper on the page: issued by Paxos under New York Department of Financial Services supervision, with monthly attestations and reserves in cash and Treasuries. For a US holder who wants a stablecoin whose issuer is examined by a banking regulator rather than merely audited, this is the category’s cleanest answer.
The strongest regulatory wrapper on the page: issued by Paxos under New York Department of Financial Services supervision, with monthly attestations and reserves in cash and Treasuries. For a US holder who wants a stablecoin whose issuer is examined by a banking regulator rather than merely audited, this is the category’s cleanest answer.
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% | 9 | 7 | 1 of 9 | +0.64 |
| Peg record, and the deviation right now | −0.0217% deviation from $1.00 · measured · 2026-08-27 · source | 25% | 8 | 8 | 1 of 9 | 0.00 |
| Who can freeze your balance | NYDFS-supervised issuer (Paxos) regulatory supervision · sourced · 2026-08-27 · sourceyes can the issuer freeze your balance · sourced · 2026-08-27 · source | 18% | 3 | 4 | 6 of 9 | -0.18 |
| Supply and where it is accepted | $2.74bn circulating supply · sourced · 2026-08-27 · source | 15% | 5 | 6 | 6 of 9 | -0.15 |
| Who keeps the interest on the reserves | — | 10% | 3 | 4 | 6 of 9 | -0.10 |
Measured 27 August 2026 · weights and method · decided by what is behind it, and who verifies that, worth +0.64 points against the median
What is behind it, and who verifies that: 9/10
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 9 of 10 against a category median of 7, which places it 1st of 9 among stablecoins on this criterion. At a 32% weight that is 0.64 points above the median contribution of the weighted total. The best score in the category is 9, the worst 3.
Peg record, and the deviation right now: 8/10
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 8 of 10 against a category median of 8, which places it 1st of 9 among stablecoins on this criterion. At a 25% weight that is exactly level with the median of the weighted total. The best score in the category is 8, the worst 3.
Who can freeze your balance: 3/10
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 3 of 10 against a category median of 4, which places it 6th of 9 among stablecoins on this criterion. At a 18% weight that is 0.18 points below the median contribution of the weighted total. The best score in the category is 6, the worst 2.
Supply and where it is accepted: 5/10
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 5 of 10 against a category median of 6, which places it 6th of 9 among stablecoins on this criterion. At a 15% weight that is 0.15 points below 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: 3/10
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 3 of 10 against a category median of 4, which places it 6th of 9 among stablecoins on this criterion. At a 10% weight that is 0.10 points below the median contribution of the weighted total. The best score in the category is 9, the worst 2.
Its nearest neighbours in this ranking
| # | Entry | What is behind it, and who verifies that | How it differs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | USDS | 7 | Behind by 2 on what is behind it, and who verifies that. |
| 2 | USDC | 9 | Level on what is behind it, and who verifies that; the gap is elsewhere. |
| 4 | USDG | 8 | Behind by 1 on what is behind it, and who verifies that. |
| 5 | DAI | 7 | Behind by 2 on what is behind it, and who verifies that. |
Questions about this score
What does NYDFS supervision mean for PYUSD holders?
+
That a banking regulator examines the issuer's reserves and operations on an ongoing basis, rather than the issuer simply registering with an anti-money-laundering agency and publishing its own reports. It is a stronger arrangement than most of this category has — and it is supervision of the issuer, not insurance of your balance.
Why is PYUSD not more widely used?
+
Depth begets depth, and it started late. At $2.74bn it is far behind USDC and USDT, so fewer trading pairs quote it and fewer DeFi protocols accept it as collateral. In practice that means moving a large position often requires converting to another stablecoin first, which reintroduces exactly the counterparty you may have chosen PYUSD to avoid.