USDT: stablecoins rating breakdown
Tether · fiat-backed
It is the money of this industry and nothing else is close: $183.3bn outstanding across 130 chains, roughly two and a half times USDC, and the pair that almost every order book quotes against. On the practical question of whether you can move a large amount at par, at any hour, on almost any chain, USDT wins outright — and its peg record through repeated crises is genuinely better than its critics predicted.
It is the money of this industry and nothing else is close: $183.3bn outstanding across 130 chains, roughly two and a half times USDC, and the pair that almost every order book quotes against.
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 | quarterly attestation — not a full audit reserve verification · sourced · 2026-08-27 · source | 32% | 5 | 7 | 7 of 9 | -0.64 |
| Peg record, and the deviation right now | −0.0124% deviation from $1.00 · measured · 2026-08-27 · source | 25% | 8 | 8 | 1 of 9 | 0.00 |
| Who can freeze your balance | yes — billions of dollars already frozen can the issuer freeze your balance · sourced · 2026-08-27 · source | 18% | 2 | 4 | 9 of 9 | -0.36 |
| Supply and where it is accepted | $183.31bn circulating supply · sourced · 2026-08-27 · source | 15% | 10 | 6 | 1 of 9 | +0.60 |
| Who keeps the interest on the reserves | the issuer who keeps the reserve interest · sourced · 2026-08-27 | 10% | 2 | 4 | 9 of 9 | -0.20 |
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: 5/10
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 5 of 10 against a category median of 7, which places it 7th of 9 among stablecoins on this criterion. At a 32% weight that is 0.64 points below 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: 2/10
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 2 of 10 against a category median of 4, which places it 9th of 9 among stablecoins on this criterion. At a 18% weight that is 0.36 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: 10/10
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 10 of 10 against a category median of 6, which places it 1st of 9 among stablecoins on this criterion. At a 15% weight that is 0.60 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: 2/10
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 2 of 10 against a category median of 4, which places it 9th of 9 among stablecoins on this criterion. At a 10% weight that is 0.20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | DAI | 7 | Ahead by 2 on what is behind it, and who verifies that. |
| 6 | RLUSD | 8 | Ahead by 3 on what is behind it, and who verifies that. |
| 8 | USDe | 4 | Behind by 1 on what is behind it, and who verifies that. |
| 9 | USDD | 3 | Behind by 2 on what is behind it, and who verifies that. |
Questions about this score
Is USDT actually backed?
+
Tether publishes quarterly attestations showing reserves exceeding liabilities, and those attestations are point-in-time reports rather than a full audit — a materially weaker instrument. The composition matters as much as the total: alongside cash and Treasury bills, the reserves include secured loans, bitcoin, gold and other investments, which behave very differently in a crisis than short-dated government paper does.
Can Tether freeze USDT in my wallet?
+
Yes, and it does so routinely — billions of dollars across thousands of addresses, generally at law-enforcement request. Public dashboards track the blacklisted addresses. This is lawful cooperation rather than misconduct, and it is proof that your USDT balance exists at the issuer's discretion.
Why do exchanges quote everything in USDT instead of USDC?
+
Depth and habit, reinforcing each other. USDT has roughly two and a half times USDC's supply and is the settlement asset for the majority of crypto trading volume, so the deepest books quote it, which attracts more flow, which keeps those books deepest. For a trader that liquidity advantage is real and immediate; for someone holding a balance for months it is worth weighing against the difference in evidence quality.