OUSD vs PYUSD
Open USD and PayPal USD, compared on the things that decide whether you get your dollar back. Live data, updated continuously.
30-day peg gap and OUSD/PYUSD spread
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Open USD is a dollar-denominated token tracked across 4 chains. No verified issuer disclosure is on file, so its collateral and legal structure score conservatively.
Verdict band: Adequate
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 | 60 | 93 | PYUSD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collateral qualityWhat actually backs the token, and how liquid that backing is. | ●●●●●5 of 5 | 55 | 95 | PYUSD |
| Exit liquidityWhether you can leave at size without moving the price. | ●●●●●5 of 5 | $36.07M | $616.58M | PYUSD |
| Issuer & legal standingRegulatory perimeter, disclosure quality and redemption rights. | ●●●●4 of 5 | 48 | 100 | PYUSD |
| Peg tightness (live)Absolute distance from $1.00 right now — smaller is better. | ●●●●4 of 5 | −0.130% | −0.016% | PYUSD |
| Worst recorded depegHow badly the token has broken before, as a stress precedent. | ●●●●4 of 5 | None recorded | None recorded | Tie |
| Track recordYears live and behaviour through past stress events. | ●●●●4 of 5 | 53 | 69 | PYUSD |
| Scale / market capBigger float usually means broader venue support and tighter spreads. | ●●●3 of 5 | $802.46M | $2.85B | PYUSD |
| Chain reachNumber of networks where the token is natively deployed. | ●●●3 of 5 | 4 chains | 7 chains | PYUSD |
| Best available yieldUpside — but every extra point above T-bills is paid for with risk. | ●●2 of 5 | 5.96% | 7.18% | 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 60), driven mainly by collateral quality and disclosure. PYUSD has deeper tracked liquidity ($616.58M), which is what determines whether you can exit at size. PYUSD currently earns up to 7.18% — 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: OUSD or PYUSD?
Capital preservation over everything else.
For park cash safely, PYUSD is the better fit over OUSD.
- Safety score 93 vs 60, with collateral rated 95/100.
- Current peg deviation -0.016% against -0.130% for OUSD.
- 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
OUSD
- Issuer and banking risk: reserves sit with Undisclosed under Not documented rules.
- No depeg recorded in our incident log — absence of history is not a guarantee.
- Limited public attestation of reserves.
- Yield venue risk: 5.96% is earned outside the token itself.
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: 7.18% is earned outside the token itself.
| Metric | OUSD | PYUSD |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Stablecoin | Stablecoin |
| Issuer | Undisclosed | Paxos (for PayPal) |
| Jurisdiction | Not documented | United States (NYDFS) |
| Collateral | fiat-backed | treasuries |
| Peg mechanism | fiat-backed | fiat-backed |
| Attestation | none | monthly |
| Redemption | market-only | direct |
| Price | $0.9987 | $0.9998 |
| Peg deviation | −0.130% | −0.016% |
| Market cap | $802.46M | $2.85B |
| 7d supply change | +11.34% | −1.45% |
| Liquidity | $36.07M | $616.58M |
| Best yield | 5.96% (origin-dollar · Ethereum) | 7.18% (sentora-curator · Ethereum) |
| Chains | 4 | 7 |
| Launched | — | 2023 |
| Worst recorded depeg | None recorded | None recorded |
Spread, peg gap and switching cost
- Price spread (OUSD vs PYUSD)
- -11.4 bps
- $0.9987 vs $0.9998
- Peg deviation gap
- 0.114 pp
- OUSD −0.130% · PYUSD −0.016%
- Yield spread
- -1.22%
- OUSD 5.96% · PYUSD 7.18%
- Liquidity ratio
- 0.06×
- $36.07M vs $616.58M
A round trip between OUSD and PYUSD costs roughly the market spread plus venue fees. At 11.4 bps of price gap, swapping $1M implies about $1.1K 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 OUSD and PYUSD have actually behaved since launch, including every stress event we have on record.
- PYUSD
PayPal USD goes live.
Chain coverage
OUSD is live on 4 chains, PYUSD on 7. 2 chains carry both, so bridging is only unavoidable for the 7 networks where just one of them is deployed.
| Chain | OUSD | PYUSD | Both available |
|---|---|---|---|
| $124.62M | $1.73B | Yes | |
| $76.35M | $678.65M | Yes | |
| $510.65M | — | OUSD only | |
| — | $361.21M | PYUSD only | |
| $90.84M | — | OUSD only | |
| — | $69.47M | PYUSD only | |
| — | $10.40M | PYUSD only | |
| — | $1.99M | PYUSD only | |
| — | $131.7K | PYUSD only |
OUSD vs PYUSD: frequently asked questions
Is OUSD or PYUSD safer?
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On our composite safety score PYUSD rates 93/100 versus 60/100 for OUSD. The score weighs collateral quality (treasuries vs fiat-backed), 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 OUSD and PYUSD?
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Open USD is issued by Undisclosed (Not documented), backed by fiat-backed, with redemption terms: market-only. PayPal USD is issued by Paxos (for PayPal) (United States (NYDFS)), backed by treasuries, with redemption terms: direct. Attestation coverage is "none" for OUSD and "monthly" for PYUSD.
Which has the bigger market cap, OUSD or PYUSD?
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PYUSD is larger at $2.85B in circulating supply, against $802.46M for the other. Over the last 7 days supply moved +11.34% for OUSD and −1.45% for PYUSD.
Are OUSD and PYUSD trading at $1.00 right now?
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OUSD trades at $0.9987 (−0.130% off peg) and PYUSD at $0.9998 (−0.016% off peg). The gap between the two is about 11.4 basis points, which is the cost you pay when rotating size between them before fees.
Has OUSD or PYUSD ever depegged?
+
OUSD: no material depeg recorded in our incident set. 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, OUSD 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 $616.58M versus $36.07M. Combine that with the redemption channel — OUSD: market-only; PYUSD: direct — and size trades against the primary window rather than the order book where possible.
Can I earn yield on OUSD or PYUSD?
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PYUSD currently shows the higher rate at 7.18% via sentora-curator · Ethereum, against 5.96% via origin-dollar · Ethereum for OUSD. 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 OUSD and PYUSD?
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Both are deployed on 2 shared networks, including Ethereum, Solana. OUSD spans 4 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 OUSD to PYUSD?
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Budget three components: the current price spread of roughly 11.4 bps, swap or venue fees, and slippage against available depth ($36.07M for OUSD, $616.58M for PYUSD). For meaningful size, redeeming with the issuer and minting the other side is often cheaper than a secondary-market swap.
Is OUSD or PYUSD regulated?
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OUSD is issued from Not documented with none; 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.