USDT vs DAI
Tether and Dai, compared on the things that decide whether you get your dollar back. Live data, updated continuously.
30-day peg gap and USDT/DAI spread
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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
The original decentralised dollar. Minted against overcollateralised vaults and stability modules, with all collateral verifiable on-chain.
Verdict band: Robust
| Safety scoreComposite of collateral, peg, liquidity, issuer and track record. | ●●●●●5 of 5 | 76 | 85 | DAI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collateral qualityWhat actually backs the token, and how liquid that backing is. | ●●●●●5 of 5 | 78 | 84 | DAI |
| Exit liquidityWhether you can leave at size without moving the price. | ●●●●●5 of 5 | $3.49B | $1.11B | USDT |
| Issuer & legal standingRegulatory perimeter, disclosure quality and redemption rights. | ●●●●4 of 5 | 54 | 82 | DAI |
| Peg tightness (live)Absolute distance from $1.00 right now — smaller is better. | ●●●●4 of 5 | −0.059% | −0.009% | DAI |
| Worst recorded depegHow badly the token has broken before, as a stress precedent. | ●●●●4 of 5 | -4.8% | -7.4% | USDT |
| Track recordYears live and behaviour through past stress events. | ●●●●4 of 5 | 100 | 97 | USDT |
| Scale / market capBigger float usually means broader venue support and tighter spreads. | ●●●3 of 5 | $182.95B | $4.77B | USDT |
| Chain reachNumber of networks where the token is natively deployed. | ●●●3 of 5 | 104 chains | 35 chains | USDT |
| Best available yieldUpside — but every extra point above T-bills is paid for with risk. | ●●2 of 5 | 17.67% | 4.71% | 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
DAI scores higher on safety (85 vs 76), driven mainly by collateral quality and disclosure. USDT has deeper tracked liquidity ($3.49B), which is what determines whether you can exit at size. USDT currently earns up to 17.67% — 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: USDT or DAI?
Capital preservation over everything else.
For park cash safely, DAI is the better fit over USDT.
- Safety score 85 vs 76, with collateral rated 84/100.
- Current peg deviation -0.009% against -0.059% for USDT.
- DAI 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
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: 17.67% is earned outside the token itself.
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: 86% of supply sits on Ethereum.
| Metric | USDT | DAI |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Stablecoin | Stablecoin |
| Issuer | Tether | Sky (formerly MakerDAO) |
| Jurisdiction | El Salvador / BVI | Decentralised / Cayman foundation |
| Collateral | fiat-reserves | crypto-overcollateralized |
| Peg mechanism | fiat-backed | crypto-backed |
| Attestation | quarterly | onchain |
| Redemption | gated | direct |
| Price | $0.9994 | $0.9999 |
| Peg deviation | −0.059% | −0.009% |
| Market cap | $182.95B | $4.77B |
| 7d supply change | +0.51% | −0.54% |
| Liquidity | $3.49B | $1.11B |
| Best yield | 17.67% (azuro · Polygon) | 4.71% (flux-finance · Ethereum) |
| Chains | 104 | 35 |
| Launched | 2014 | 2017 |
| Worst recorded depeg | −4.8% | −7.4% |
Spread, peg gap and switching cost
- Price spread (USDT vs DAI)
- -5.0 bps
- $0.9994 vs $0.9999
- Peg deviation gap
- 0.050 pp
- USDT −0.059% · DAI −0.009%
- Yield spread
- +12.96%
- USDT 17.67% · DAI 4.71%
- Liquidity ratio
- 3.16×
- $3.49B vs $1.11B
A round trip between USDT and DAI costs roughly the market spread plus venue fees. At 5.0 bps of price gap, swapping $1M implies about $496.74 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 USDT and DAI 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.
- DAI
Dai goes live.
- DAI
Single-collateral Dai launches on Ethereum.
- USDT
NYAG filings reveal reserves were not fully cash-backed at the time.
- DAI
Black Thursday: liquidation failures leave MakerDAO with bad debt.
- USDT
Settles with the NY Attorney General; agrees to quarterly reserve reporting.
- DAI
Collateral mix tilts heavily toward USDC, importing centralised risk.
- 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%).
- DAI
USDC contagion via PSM (worst deviation -7.4%).
Chain coverage
USDT is live on 104 chains, DAI on 35. 33 chains carry both, so bridging is only unavoidable for the 73 networks where just one of them is deployed.
| Chain | USDT | DAI | Both available |
|---|---|---|---|
| $90.48B | — | USDT only | |
| $74.15B | $4.11B | Yes | |
| $9.18B | $31.07M | Yes | |
| $2.86B | $510.3K | Yes | |
| $832.75M | $519.50M | Yes | |
| $976.42M | — | USDT only | |
| $852.74M | $18.77M | Yes | |
| $680.39M | — | USDT only | |
| $649.09M | — | USDT only | |
| $437.42M | — | USDT only | |
| $382.36M | $10.65M | Yes | |
| $228.35M | $7.98M | Yes | |
| $192.98M | $13.69M | Yes | |
| $82.91M | $35.11M | Yes | |
| $113.10M | — | USDT only | |
| $100.27M | — | USDT only | |
| $79.99M | — | USDT only | |
| $78.88M | — | USDT only | |
| $77.53M | — | USDT only | |
| $64.33M | $813.3K | Yes |
USDT vs DAI: frequently asked questions
Is USDT or DAI safer?
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On our composite safety score DAI rates 85/100 versus 76/100 for USDT. The score weighs collateral quality (crypto-overcollateralized vs fiat-reserves), 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 USDT and DAI?
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Tether is issued by Tether (El Salvador / BVI), backed by fiat-reserves, with redemption terms: gated. Dai is issued by Sky (formerly MakerDAO) (Decentralised / Cayman foundation), backed by crypto-overcollateralized, with redemption terms: direct. Attestation coverage is "quarterly" for USDT and "onchain" for DAI.
Which has the bigger market cap, USDT or DAI?
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USDT is larger at $182.95B in circulating supply, against $4.77B for the other. Over the last 7 days supply moved +0.51% for USDT and −0.54% for DAI.
Are USDT and DAI trading at $1.00 right now?
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USDT trades at $0.9994 (−0.059% off peg) and DAI at $0.9999 (−0.009% off peg). The gap between the two is about 5.0 basis points, which is the cost you pay when rotating size between them before fees.
Has USDT or DAI ever depegged?
+
USDT: worst recorded deviation −4.8%. DAI: worst recorded deviation −7.4%. 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, USDT or DAI?
+
For block size the constraint is exit liquidity and primary redemption, not headline supply. USDT shows deeper on-chain liquidity at $3.49B versus $1.11B. Combine that with the redemption channel — USDT: gated; DAI: direct — and size trades against the primary window rather than the order book where possible.
Can I earn yield on USDT or DAI?
+
USDT currently shows the higher rate at 17.67% via azuro · Polygon, 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 USDT and DAI?
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Both are deployed on 33 shared networks, including Ethereum, BSC, Solana, Arbitrum, Polygon, Avalanche. USDT spans 104 chains in total and DAI spans 35. 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 USDT to DAI?
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Budget three components: the current price spread of roughly 5.0 bps, swap or venue fees, and slippage against available depth ($3.49B for USDT, $1.11B for DAI). For meaningful size, redeeming with the issuer and minting the other side is often cheaper than a secondary-market swap.
Is USDT or DAI regulated?
+
USDT is issued from El Salvador / BVI with quarterly; DAI is issued from Decentralised / Cayman foundation with onchain. 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.