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The week USDC's SVB depeg is still the reference case

This week's brief: why usd.net's depeg database still uses the March 2023 USDC episode as the reference case for redemption risk, what the four-structure framework says about correlated collateral, and where chain concentration risk actually sits.

The depeg database's most-cited row

The single most-referenced episode in the Stablecoin Depeg Database is still USDC/SVB: on 10 March 2023, Circle disclosed $3.3B of reserves held at Silicon Valley Bank, which regulators closed the same day. USDC traded down to a $0.87 trough — a 13% deviation — before the FDIC, Treasury and Federal Reserve guaranteed SVB depositors on 12 March, and the peg was restored by 13 March. The full row, with sources, is permanently anchored at /depegs/history#usdc-2023-03.

Correlation is the hidden position

usd.net's research framework on the four dollar structures makes the same point structurally: the largest fiat-backed tokens share exposure to the same short-dated Treasury curve and, historically, overlapping banking partners. The lesson from March 2023 was not 'avoid USDC' — it was that structure-level concentration, not issuer-level concentration, is what actually breaks a portfolio. Full piece: /research/the-four-dollar-structures.

Chain concentration hasn't gone away

A companion piece on chain concentration risk is worth re-reading this week: canonical issuance means the issuer will redeem on that chain directly, while bridged issuance means a wrapper contract holds the canonical token elsewhere. If the bridge breaks, the wrapped token can go to zero while the issuer's own reserves stay untouched — and unreachable. Every chain page on usd.net now shows the canonical-vs-bridged split for exactly this reason: /research/chain-concentration-risk.

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By Alex Fsen, founder and editor · Published 17 Aug 2026 · Reviewed 17 Aug 2026
Every fact in this issue is drawn from usd.net's own published research, depeg archive and live stat pages as of the send date; single-stat cards link to the live figure rather than a fixed number.