DAI vs PYUSD
Dai and PayPal USD, compared on the things that decide whether you get your dollar back. Live data, updated continuously.
30-day peg gap and DAI/PYUSD spread
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The original decentralised dollar. Minted against overcollateralised vaults and stability modules, with all collateral verifiable on-chain.
Verdict band: Strong
Issued by NYDFS-regulated Paxos on behalf of PayPal. Reserves are US Treasuries, reverse repo and cash, held in bankruptcy-remote accounts with monthly attestations.
Verdict band: Strong
| Safety scoreComposite of collateral, peg, liquidity, issuer and track record. | ●●●●●5 of 5 | 80 | 93 | PYUSD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collateral qualityWhat actually backs the token, and how liquid that backing is. | ●●●●●5 of 5 | 84 | 95 | PYUSD |
| Exit liquidityWhether you can leave at size without moving the price. | ●●●●●5 of 5 | $294.57M | $463.54M | PYUSD |
| Issuer & legal standingRegulatory perimeter, disclosure quality and redemption rights. | ●●●●4 of 5 | 82 | 100 | PYUSD |
| Peg tightness (live)Absolute distance from $1.00 right now — smaller is better. | ●●●●4 of 5 | +0.010% | +0.004% | PYUSD |
| Worst recorded depegHow badly the token has broken before, as a stress precedent. | ●●●●4 of 5 | -7.4% | None recorded | PYUSD |
| Track recordYears live and behaviour through past stress events. | ●●●●4 of 5 | 97 | 69 | DAI |
| Scale / market capBigger float usually means broader venue support and tighter spreads. | ●●●3 of 5 | $4.79B | $2.85B | DAI |
| Chain reachNumber of networks where the token is natively deployed. | ●●●3 of 5 | 31 chains | 7 chains | DAI |
| Best available yieldUpside — but every extra point above T-bills is paid for with risk. | ●●2 of 5 | 4.71% | 10.77% | PYUSD |
"Matters" is our weighting of how much each dimension typically drives a real allocation decision. Sort any column to re-rank the tradeoffs by what matters to you.
The short answer
PYUSD scores higher on safety (93 vs 80), driven mainly by collateral quality and disclosure. PYUSD has deeper tracked liquidity ($463.54M), which is what determines whether you can exit at size. PYUSD currently earns up to 10.77% — remember that any rate above the T-bill yield is payment for a risk.
If both are fiat-reserve tokens, note that holding both is not diversification: they share the same short-dated Treasury and banking exposure. Genuine diversification means mixing collateral structures.
Which one fits your goal: DAI or PYUSD?
Capital preservation over everything else.
For park cash safely, PYUSD is the better fit over DAI.
- Safety score 93 vs 80, with collateral rated 95/100.
- Current peg deviation 0.004% against 0.010% for DAI.
- No material depeg recorded for PYUSD in our incident log.
Concentrating in one issuer is a single point of failure regardless of score. Split across collateral structures.
Key risks, side by side
DAI
- Collateral volatility: a fast drawdown in backing assets can force liquidations.
- Depeg history: 2 recorded event(s), worst deviation -7.40%.
- Attestation cadence: onchain.
- Yield venue risk: 4.71% is earned outside the token itself.
- Chain concentration: 88% of supply sits on Ethereum.
PYUSD
- Issuer and banking risk: reserves sit with Paxos (for PayPal) under United States (NYDFS) rules.
- No depeg recorded in our incident log — absence of history is not a guarantee.
- Attestation cadence: monthly.
- Yield venue risk: 10.77% is earned outside the token itself.
| Metric | DAI | PYUSD |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Stablecoin | Stablecoin |
| Issuer | Sky (formerly MakerDAO) | Paxos (for PayPal) |
| Jurisdiction | Decentralised / Cayman foundation | United States (NYDFS) |
| Collateral | crypto-overcollateralized | treasuries |
| Peg mechanism | crypto-backed | fiat-backed |
| Attestation | onchain | monthly |
| Redemption | direct | direct |
| Price | $1.0001 | $1.0000 |
| Peg deviation | +0.010% | +0.004% |
| Market cap | $4.79B | $2.85B |
| 7d supply change | −0.17% | +2.58% |
| Liquidity | $294.57M | $463.54M |
| Best yield | 4.71% (flux-finance · Ethereum) | 10.77% (sentora-curator · Ethereum) |
| Chains | 31 | 7 |
| Launched | 2017 | 2023 |
| Worst recorded depeg | −7.4% | None recorded |
Spread, peg gap and switching cost
- Price spread (DAI vs PYUSD)
- +0.6 bps
- $1.0001 vs $1.0000
- Peg deviation gap
- 0.006 pp
- DAI +0.010% · PYUSD +0.004%
- Yield spread
- -6.06%
- DAI 4.71% · PYUSD 10.77%
- Liquidity ratio
- 0.64×
- $294.57M vs $463.54M
A round trip between DAI and PYUSD costs roughly the market spread plus venue fees. At 0.6 bps of price gap, swapping $1M implies about $58.21 of price impact before fees — usually only worth it if the peg gap or yield spread is durable, not intraday noise.
Historical context
Track record is the part of a stablecoin you cannot model — it has to be observed. Here is how DAI and PYUSD have actually behaved since launch, including every stress event we have on record.
- DAI
Dai goes live.
- DAI
Single-collateral Dai launches on Ethereum.
- DAI
Black Thursday: liquidation failures leave MakerDAO with bad debt.
- DAI
Collateral mix tilts heavily toward USDC, importing centralised risk.
- PYUSD
PayPal USD goes live.
- DAI
USDC contagion via PSM (worst deviation -7.4%).
Chain coverage
DAI is live on 31 chains, PYUSD on 7. 4 chains carry both, so bridging is only unavoidable for the 30 networks where just one of them is deployed.
| Chain | DAI | PYUSD | Both available |
|---|---|---|---|
| $4.20B | $1.70B | Yes | |
| $510.4K | $735.52M | Yes | |
| $464.69M | $10.38M | Yes | |
| $16.85M | $337.56M | Yes | |
| — | $69.07M | PYUSD only | |
| $35.12M | — | DAI only | |
| $31.07M | — | DAI only | |
| $13.62M | — | DAI only | |
| $12.04M | — | DAI only | |
| $11.23M | — | DAI only | |
| $7.98M | — | DAI only | |
| — | $2.09M | PYUSD only | |
| $1.89M | — | DAI only | |
| $785.7K | — | DAI only | |
| $373.9K | — | DAI only | |
| $195.9K | — | DAI only | |
| $143.0K | — | DAI only | |
| — | $131.7K | PYUSD only | |
| $106.8K | — | DAI only | |
| $103.8K | — | DAI only |
DAI vs PYUSD: frequently asked questions
Is DAI or PYUSD safer?
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On our composite safety score PYUSD rates 93/100 versus 80/100 for DAI. The score weighs collateral quality (treasuries vs crypto-overcollateralized), redemption rights, attestation quality, peg history and liquidity depth. A higher score is not a guarantee: both remain issuer-credit and smart-contract exposures, not insured bank deposits.
What is the difference between DAI and PYUSD?
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Dai is issued by Sky (formerly MakerDAO) (Decentralised / Cayman foundation), backed by crypto-overcollateralized, with redemption terms: direct. PayPal USD is issued by Paxos (for PayPal) (United States (NYDFS)), backed by treasuries, with redemption terms: direct. Attestation coverage is "onchain" for DAI and "monthly" for PYUSD.
Which has the bigger market cap, DAI or PYUSD?
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DAI is larger at $4.79B in circulating supply, against $2.85B for the other. Over the last 7 days supply moved −0.17% for DAI and +2.58% for PYUSD.
Are DAI and PYUSD trading at $1.00 right now?
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DAI trades at $1.0001 (+0.010% off peg) and PYUSD at $1.0000 (+0.004% off peg). The gap between the two is about 0.6 basis points, which is the cost you pay when rotating size between them before fees.
Has DAI or PYUSD ever depegged?
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DAI: worst recorded deviation −7.4%. PYUSD: no material depeg recorded in our incident set. Past peg behaviour under stress is the single best available proxy for how a token trades in the next crisis.
Which is better for large institutional size, DAI or PYUSD?
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For block size the constraint is exit liquidity and primary redemption, not headline supply. PYUSD shows deeper on-chain liquidity at $463.54M versus $294.57M. Combine that with the redemption channel — DAI: direct; PYUSD: direct — and size trades against the primary window rather than the order book where possible.
Can I earn yield on DAI or PYUSD?
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PYUSD currently shows the higher rate at 10.77% via sentora-curator · Ethereum, against 4.71% via flux-finance · Ethereum for DAI. Neither token pays interest by holding it in a wallet: the yield comes from lending, liquidity provision or a wrapped yield-bearing version, each with its own counterparty and contract risk.
Which chains support both DAI and PYUSD?
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Both are deployed on 4 shared networks, including Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, Solana. DAI spans 31 chains in total and PYUSD spans 7. Bridged supply on a chain is not the same as natively issued supply, and it usually carries the bridge's risk rather than the issuer's.
What does it cost to switch from DAI to PYUSD?
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Budget three components: the current price spread of roughly 0.6 bps, swap or venue fees, and slippage against available depth ($294.57M for DAI, $463.54M for PYUSD). For meaningful size, redeeming with the issuer and minting the other side is often cheaper than a secondary-market swap.
Is DAI or PYUSD regulated?
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DAI is issued from Decentralised / Cayman foundation with onchain; PYUSD is issued from United States (NYDFS) with monthly. Regulatory status varies by your own jurisdiction and by whether the token is offered under a specific stablecoin regime, so treat this as a starting point for diligence, not legal advice.