USDT vs PYUSD
Tether and PayPal USD, compared on the things that decide whether you get your dollar back. Live data, updated continuously.
30-day peg gap and USDT/PYUSD 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
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 | 76 | 93 | PYUSD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collateral qualityWhat actually backs the token, and how liquid that backing is. | ●●●●●5 of 5 | 78 | 95 | PYUSD |
| Exit liquidityWhether you can leave at size without moving the price. | ●●●●●5 of 5 | $1.96B | $460.29M | USDT |
| Issuer & legal standingRegulatory perimeter, disclosure quality and redemption rights. | ●●●●4 of 5 | 54 | 100 | PYUSD |
| Peg tightness (live)Absolute distance from $1.00 right now — smaller is better. | ●●●●4 of 5 | −0.017% | −0.009% | PYUSD |
| Worst recorded depegHow badly the token has broken before, as a stress precedent. | ●●●●4 of 5 | -4.8% | None recorded | PYUSD |
| Track recordYears live and behaviour through past stress events. | ●●●●4 of 5 | 100 | 69 | USDT |
| Scale / market capBigger float usually means broader venue support and tighter spreads. | ●●●3 of 5 | $184.03B | $2.90B | USDT |
| Chain reachNumber of networks where the token is natively deployed. | ●●●3 of 5 | 97 chains | 7 chains | USDT |
| Best available yieldUpside — but every extra point above T-bills is paid for with risk. | ●●2 of 5 | 11.63% | 10.77% | 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
PYUSD scores higher on safety (93 vs 76), driven mainly by collateral quality and disclosure. USDT has deeper tracked liquidity ($1.96B), which is what determines whether you can exit at size. USDT currently earns up to 11.63% — 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 PYUSD?
Capital preservation over everything else.
For park cash safely, PYUSD is the better fit over USDT.
- Safety score 93 vs 76, with collateral rated 95/100.
- Current peg deviation -0.009% against -0.017% for USDT.
- 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
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: 11.63% 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: 10.77% is earned outside the token itself.
| Metric | USDT | PYUSD |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Stablecoin | Stablecoin |
| Issuer | Tether | Paxos (for PayPal) |
| Jurisdiction | El Salvador / BVI | United States (NYDFS) |
| Collateral | fiat-reserves | treasuries |
| Peg mechanism | fiat-backed | fiat-backed |
| Attestation | quarterly | monthly |
| Redemption | gated | direct |
| Price | $0.9998 | $0.9999 |
| Peg deviation | −0.017% | −0.009% |
| Market cap | $184.03B | $2.90B |
| 7d supply change | +0.15% | +5.70% |
| Liquidity | $1.96B | $460.29M |
| Best yield | 11.63% (lista-lending · BSC) | 10.77% (sentora-curator · Ethereum) |
| Chains | 97 | 7 |
| Launched | 2014 | 2023 |
| Worst recorded depeg | −4.8% | None recorded |
Spread, peg gap and switching cost
- Price spread (USDT vs PYUSD)
- -0.9 bps
- $0.9998 vs $0.9999
- Peg deviation gap
- 0.009 pp
- USDT −0.017% · PYUSD −0.009%
- Yield spread
- +0.86%
- USDT 11.63% · PYUSD 10.77%
- Liquidity ratio
- 4.26×
- $1.96B vs $460.29M
A round trip between USDT and PYUSD costs roughly the market spread plus venue fees. At 0.9 bps of price gap, swapping $1M implies about $87.77 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 PYUSD 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.
- PYUSD
PayPal USD goes live.
- USDT
Banking stress (worst deviation 0.5%).
Chain coverage
USDT is live on 97 chains, PYUSD on 7. 7 chains carry both, so bridging is only unavoidable for the 90 networks where just one of them is deployed.
| Chain | USDT | PYUSD | Both available |
|---|---|---|---|
| $92.68B | — | USDT only | |
| $73.42B | $1.75B | Yes | |
| $9.18B | — | USDT only | |
| $2.87B | $715.18M | Yes | |
| $854.83M | $351.87M | Yes | |
| $846.63M | — | USDT only | |
| $791.20M | $10.38M | Yes | |
| $550.69M | — | USDT only | |
| $521.89M | — | USDT only | |
| $445.75M | — | USDT only | |
| $391.61M | — | USDT only | |
| $335.64M | — | USDT only | |
| $223.75M | — | USDT only | |
| $110.80M | — | USDT only | |
| $83.91M | — | USDT only | |
| $82.94M | — | USDT only | |
| $80.03M | — | USDT only | |
| $1.1K | $69.04M | Yes | |
| $66.50M | — | USDT only | |
| $58.03M | — | USDT only |
USDT vs PYUSD: frequently asked questions
Is USDT or PYUSD safer?
+
On our composite safety score PYUSD rates 93/100 versus 76/100 for USDT. The score weighs collateral quality (treasuries 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 PYUSD?
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Tether is issued by Tether (El Salvador / BVI), backed by fiat-reserves, with redemption terms: gated. PayPal USD is issued by Paxos (for PayPal) (United States (NYDFS)), backed by treasuries, with redemption terms: direct. Attestation coverage is "quarterly" for USDT and "monthly" for PYUSD.
Which has the bigger market cap, USDT or PYUSD?
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USDT is larger at $184.03B in circulating supply, against $2.90B for the other. Over the last 7 days supply moved +0.15% for USDT and +5.70% for PYUSD.
Are USDT and PYUSD trading at $1.00 right now?
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USDT trades at $0.9998 (−0.017% off peg) and PYUSD at $0.9999 (−0.009% off peg). The gap between the two is about 0.9 basis points, which is the cost you pay when rotating size between them before fees.
Has USDT or PYUSD ever depegged?
+
USDT: worst recorded deviation −4.8%. 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, USDT or PYUSD?
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For block size the constraint is exit liquidity and primary redemption, not headline supply. USDT shows deeper on-chain liquidity at $1.96B versus $460.29M. Combine that with the redemption channel — USDT: gated; PYUSD: direct — and size trades against the primary window rather than the order book where possible.
Can I earn yield on USDT or PYUSD?
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USDT currently shows the higher rate at 11.63% via lista-lending · BSC, against 10.77% via sentora-curator · Ethereum for PYUSD. 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 PYUSD?
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Both are deployed on 7 shared networks, including Ethereum, Solana, Arbitrum, Polygon, Berachain, Sei. USDT spans 97 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 USDT to PYUSD?
+
Budget three components: the current price spread of roughly 0.9 bps, swap or venue fees, and slippage against available depth ($1.96B for USDT, $460.29M for PYUSD). For meaningful size, redeeming with the issuer and minting the other side is often cheaper than a secondary-market swap.
Is USDT or PYUSD regulated?
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USDT is issued from El Salvador / BVI with quarterly; 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.