U vs USDC
United Stables and USD Coin, compared on the things that decide whether you get your dollar back. Live data, updated continuously.
30-day peg gap and U/USDC spread
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United Stables 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
Fully reserved dollar token issued by Circle, a US-regulated and MiCA-compliant issuer. Reserves sit in the Circle Reserve Fund (short-dated Treasuries and repo) with monthly attestations and daily reporting.
Verdict band: Strong
| Safety scoreComposite of collateral, peg, liquidity, issuer and track record. | ●●●●●5 of 5 | 72 | 88 | USDC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collateral qualityWhat actually backs the token, and how liquid that backing is. | ●●●●●5 of 5 | 55 | 95 | USDC |
| Exit liquidityWhether you can leave at size without moving the price. | ●●●●●5 of 5 | $38.36B | $4.31B | U |
| Issuer & legal standingRegulatory perimeter, disclosure quality and redemption rights. | ●●●●4 of 5 | 48 | 100 | USDC |
| Peg tightness (live)Absolute distance from $1.00 right now — smaller is better. | ●●●●4 of 5 | −0.061% | −0.003% | USDC |
| Worst recorded depegHow badly the token has broken before, as a stress precedent. | ●●●●4 of 5 | None recorded | -12.0% | U |
| Track recordYears live and behaviour through past stress events. | ●●●●4 of 5 | 53 | 99 | USDC |
| Scale / market capBigger float usually means broader venue support and tighter spreads. | ●●●3 of 5 | $1.56B | $74.24B | USDC |
| Chain reachNumber of networks where the token is natively deployed. | ●●●3 of 5 | 4 chains | 117 chains | USDC |
| Best available yieldUpside — but every extra point above T-bills is paid for with risk. | ●●2 of 5 | 8.00% | 79.44% | USDC |
"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
USDC scores higher on safety (88 vs 72), driven mainly by collateral quality and disclosure. U has deeper tracked liquidity ($38.36B), which is what determines whether you can exit at size. USDC currently earns up to 79.44% — 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: U or USDC?
Capital preservation over everything else.
For park cash safely, USDC is the better fit over U.
- Safety score 88 vs 72, with collateral rated 95/100.
- Current peg deviation -0.003% against -0.061% for U.
- USDC has 1 recorded depeg event(s) — read them before sizing up.
Concentrating in one issuer is a single point of failure regardless of score. Split across collateral structures.
Key risks, side by side
U
- Collateral volatility: a fast drawdown in backing assets can force liquidations.
- No depeg recorded in our incident log — absence of history is not a guarantee.
- Limited public attestation of reserves.
- Yield venue risk: 8.00% is earned outside the token itself.
- Chain concentration: 71% of supply sits on BSC.
USDC
- Issuer and banking risk: reserves sit with Circle under United States (NYDFS / MiCA) rules.
- Depeg history: 1 recorded event(s), worst deviation -12.00%.
- Attestation cadence: monthly.
- Yield venue risk: 79.44% is earned outside the token itself.
| Metric | U | USDC |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Stablecoin | Stablecoin |
| Issuer | Undisclosed | Circle |
| Jurisdiction | Not documented | United States (NYDFS / MiCA) |
| Collateral | crypto-backed | treasuries |
| Peg mechanism | crypto-backed | fiat-backed |
| Attestation | none | monthly |
| Redemption | market-only | direct |
| Price | $0.9994 | $1.0000 |
| Peg deviation | −0.061% | −0.003% |
| Market cap | $1.56B | $74.24B |
| 7d supply change | +6.32% | −2.88% |
| Liquidity | $38.36B | $4.31B |
| Best yield | 8.00% (bitway-earn · BSC) | 79.44% (neutral-trade · Solana) |
| Chains | 4 | 117 |
| Launched | — | 2018 |
| Worst recorded depeg | None recorded | −12.0% |
Spread, peg gap and switching cost
- Price spread (U vs USDC)
- -5.9 bps
- $0.9994 vs $1.0000
- Peg deviation gap
- 0.059 pp
- U −0.061% · USDC −0.003%
- Yield spread
- -71.44%
- U 8.00% · USDC 79.44%
- Liquidity ratio
- 8.90×
- $38.36B vs $4.31B
A round trip between U and USDC costs roughly the market spread plus venue fees. At 5.9 bps of price gap, swapping $1M implies about $586.62 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 U and USDC have actually behaved since launch, including every stress event we have on record.
- USDC
USD Coin goes live.
- USDC
Launched by Circle and Coinbase under the Centre consortium.
- USDC
Freezes Tornado Cash addresses after OFAC sanctions — censorship precedent.
- USDC
Silicon Valley Bank failure strands $3.3B of reserves; USDC trades to ~$0.87.
- USDC
Circle becomes the first major issuer compliant with the EU's MiCA regime.
Chain coverage
U is live on 4 chains, USDC on 117. 3 chains carry both, so bridging is only unavoidable for the 115 networks where just one of them is deployed.
| Chain | U | USDC | Both available |
|---|---|---|---|
| $365.93M | $45.45B | Yes | |
| — | $7.56B | USDC only | |
| — | $7.31B | USDC only | |
| — | $4.36B | USDC only | |
| $1.11B | $1.59B | Yes | |
| — | $2.36B | USDC only | |
| — | $1.63B | USDC only | |
| — | $519.30M | USDC only | |
| — | $454.49M | USDC only | |
| — | $360.46M | USDC only | |
| — | $355.31M | USDC only | |
| — | $306.18M | USDC only | |
| — | $227.36M | USDC only | |
| — | $181.40M | USDC only | |
| — | $170.62M | USDC only | |
| — | $151.24M | USDC only | |
| — | $145.72M | USDC only | |
| — | $138.21M | USDC only | |
| — | $92.76M | USDC only | |
| — | $87.44M | USDC only |
U vs USDC: frequently asked questions
Is U or USDC safer?
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On our composite safety score USDC rates 88/100 versus 72/100 for U. The score weighs collateral quality (treasuries vs crypto-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 U and USDC?
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United Stables is issued by Undisclosed (Not documented), backed by crypto-backed, with redemption terms: market-only. USD Coin is issued by Circle (United States (NYDFS / MiCA)), backed by treasuries, with redemption terms: direct. Attestation coverage is "none" for U and "monthly" for USDC.
Which has the bigger market cap, U or USDC?
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USDC is larger at $74.24B in circulating supply, against $1.56B for the other. Over the last 7 days supply moved +6.32% for U and −2.88% for USDC.
Are U and USDC trading at $1.00 right now?
+
U trades at $0.9994 (−0.061% off peg) and USDC at $1.0000 (−0.003% off peg). The gap between the two is about 5.9 basis points, which is the cost you pay when rotating size between them before fees.
Has U or USDC ever depegged?
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U: no material depeg recorded in our incident set. USDC: worst recorded deviation −12.0%. 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, U or USDC?
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For block size the constraint is exit liquidity and primary redemption, not headline supply. U shows deeper on-chain liquidity at $38.36B versus $4.31B. Combine that with the redemption channel — U: market-only; USDC: direct — and size trades against the primary window rather than the order book where possible.
Can I earn yield on U or USDC?
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USDC currently shows the higher rate at 79.44% via neutral-trade · Solana, against 8.00% via bitway-earn · BSC for U. 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 U and USDC?
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Both are deployed on 3 shared networks, including BSC, Ethereum, Tron. U spans 4 chains in total and USDC spans 117. 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 U to USDC?
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Budget three components: the current price spread of roughly 5.9 bps, swap or venue fees, and slippage against available depth ($38.36B for U, $4.31B for USDC). For meaningful size, redeeming with the issuer and minting the other side is often cheaper than a secondary-market swap.
Is U or USDC regulated?
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U is issued from Not documented with none; USDC is issued from United States (NYDFS / MiCA) 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.