U vs USDT
United Stables and Tether, compared on the things that decide whether you get your dollar back. Live data, updated continuously.
30-day peg gap and U/USDT 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
The largest dollar token on-chain, backed mainly by US Treasury bills and cash equivalents. Direct redemption is available to verified institutional customers above a minimum size; everyone else exits via secondary markets.
Verdict band: Adequate
| Safety scoreComposite of collateral, peg, liquidity, issuer and track record. | ●●●●●5 of 5 | 72 | 77 | USDT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collateral qualityWhat actually backs the token, and how liquid that backing is. | ●●●●●5 of 5 | 55 | 78 | USDT |
| Exit liquidityWhether you can leave at size without moving the price. | ●●●●●5 of 5 | $38.63B | $1.96B | U |
| Issuer & legal standingRegulatory perimeter, disclosure quality and redemption rights. | ●●●●4 of 5 | 48 | 54 | USDT |
| Peg tightness (live)Absolute distance from $1.00 right now — smaller is better. | ●●●●4 of 5 | −0.067% | −0.009% | USDT |
| Worst recorded depegHow badly the token has broken before, as a stress precedent. | ●●●●4 of 5 | None recorded | -4.8% | U |
| Track recordYears live and behaviour through past stress events. | ●●●●4 of 5 | 53 | 100 | USDT |
| Scale / market capBigger float usually means broader venue support and tighter spreads. | ●●●3 of 5 | $1.56B | $183.76B | USDT |
| Chain reachNumber of networks where the token is natively deployed. | ●●●3 of 5 | 4 chains | 97 chains | USDT |
| Best available yieldUpside — but every extra point above T-bills is paid for with risk. | ●●2 of 5 | 8.00% | 9.00% | USDT |
"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
USDT scores higher on safety (77 vs 72), driven mainly by collateral quality and disclosure. U has deeper tracked liquidity ($38.63B), which is what determines whether you can exit at size. USDT currently earns up to 9.00% — 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 USDT?
Capital preservation over everything else.
For park cash safely, USDT is the better fit over U.
- Safety score 77 vs 72, with collateral rated 78/100.
- Current peg deviation -0.009% against -0.067% for U.
- USDT has 2 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.
USDT
- Issuer and banking risk: reserves sit with Tether under El Salvador / BVI rules.
- Depeg history: 2 recorded event(s), worst deviation -4.80%.
- Attestation cadence: quarterly.
- Yield venue risk: 9.00% is earned outside the token itself.
| Metric | U | USDT |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Stablecoin | Stablecoin |
| Issuer | Undisclosed | Tether |
| Jurisdiction | Not documented | El Salvador / BVI |
| Collateral | crypto-backed | fiat-reserves |
| Peg mechanism | crypto-backed | fiat-backed |
| Attestation | none | quarterly |
| Redemption | market-only | gated |
| Price | $0.9993 | $0.9999 |
| Peg deviation | −0.067% | −0.009% |
| Market cap | $1.56B | $183.76B |
| 7d supply change | +6.32% | +0.01% |
| Liquidity | $38.63B | $1.96B |
| Best yield | 8.00% (bitway-earn · BSC) | 9.00% (zerobase-cedefi · Ethereum) |
| Chains | 4 | 97 |
| Launched | — | 2014 |
| Worst recorded depeg | None recorded | −4.8% |
Spread, peg gap and switching cost
- Price spread (U vs USDT)
- -5.8 bps
- $0.9993 vs $0.9999
- Peg deviation gap
- 0.058 pp
- U −0.067% · USDT −0.009%
- Yield spread
- -1.00%
- U 8.00% · USDT 9.00%
- Liquidity ratio
- 19.70×
- $38.63B vs $1.96B
A round trip between U and USDT costs roughly the market spread plus venue fees. At 5.8 bps of price gap, swapping $1M implies about $584.44 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 USDT have actually behaved since launch, including every stress event we have on record.
- USDT
Tether goes live.
- USDT
Launched as Realcoin on Bitcoin's Omni layer, later renamed Tether.
- USDT
NYAG filings reveal reserves were not fully cash-backed at the time.
- USDT
Settles with the NY Attorney General; agrees to quarterly reserve reporting.
- USDT
Terra contagion run (worst deviation -4.8%).
- USDT
Shifts reserves decisively toward short-dated US Treasury bills.
- USDT
Banking stress (worst deviation 0.5%).
Chain coverage
U is live on 4 chains, USDT on 97. 3 chains carry both, so bridging is only unavoidable for the 95 networks where just one of them is deployed.
| Chain | U | USDT | Both available |
|---|---|---|---|
| $54.96M | $92.44B | Yes | |
| $365.91M | $73.44B | Yes | |
| $1.11B | $9.18B | Yes | |
| — | $2.84B | USDT only | |
| — | $851.76M | USDT only | |
| — | $839.92M | USDT only | |
| — | $789.12M | USDT only | |
| — | $550.74M | USDT only | |
| — | $521.94M | USDT only | |
| — | $446.35M | USDT only | |
| — | $391.64M | USDT only | |
| — | $332.06M | USDT only | |
| — | $223.78M | USDT only | |
| — | $112.23M | USDT only | |
| — | $83.92M | USDT only | |
| — | $82.95M | USDT only | |
| — | $80.04M | USDT only | |
| — | $66.57M | USDT only | |
| — | $58.08M | USDT only | |
| — | $50.14M | USDT only |
U vs USDT: frequently asked questions
Is U or USDT safer?
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On our composite safety score USDT rates 77/100 versus 72/100 for U. The score weighs collateral quality (fiat-reserves 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 USDT?
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United Stables is issued by Undisclosed (Not documented), backed by crypto-backed, with redemption terms: market-only. Tether is issued by Tether (El Salvador / BVI), backed by fiat-reserves, with redemption terms: gated. Attestation coverage is "none" for U and "quarterly" for USDT.
Which has the bigger market cap, U or USDT?
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USDT is larger at $183.76B in circulating supply, against $1.56B for the other. Over the last 7 days supply moved +6.32% for U and +0.01% for USDT.
Are U and USDT trading at $1.00 right now?
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U trades at $0.9993 (−0.067% off peg) and USDT at $0.9999 (−0.009% off peg). The gap between the two is about 5.8 basis points, which is the cost you pay when rotating size between them before fees.
Has U or USDT ever depegged?
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U: no material depeg recorded in our incident set. USDT: worst recorded deviation −4.8%. 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 USDT?
+
For block size the constraint is exit liquidity and primary redemption, not headline supply. U shows deeper on-chain liquidity at $38.63B versus $1.96B. Combine that with the redemption channel — U: market-only; USDT: gated — and size trades against the primary window rather than the order book where possible.
Can I earn yield on U or USDT?
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USDT currently shows the higher rate at 9.00% via zerobase-cedefi · Ethereum, 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 USDT?
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Both are deployed on 3 shared networks, including BSC, Ethereum, Tron. U spans 4 chains in total and USDT spans 97. 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 USDT?
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Budget three components: the current price spread of roughly 5.8 bps, swap or venue fees, and slippage against available depth ($38.63B for U, $1.96B for USDT). For meaningful size, redeeming with the issuer and minting the other side is often cheaper than a secondary-market swap.
Is U or USDT regulated?
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U is issued from Not documented with none; USDT is issued from El Salvador / BVI with quarterly. 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.