USDT vs USDC
Tether and USD Coin, compared on the things that decide whether you get your dollar back. Live data, updated continuously.
30-day peg gap and USDT/USDC 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
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: Robust
| Safety scoreComposite of collateral, peg, liquidity, issuer and track record. | ●●●●●5 of 5 | 76 | 91 | USDC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collateral qualityWhat actually backs the token, and how liquid that backing is. | ●●●●●5 of 5 | 78 | 95 | USDC |
| Exit liquidityWhether you can leave at size without moving the price. | ●●●●●5 of 5 | $3.49B | $9.31B | USDC |
| Issuer & legal standingRegulatory perimeter, disclosure quality and redemption rights. | ●●●●4 of 5 | 54 | 100 | USDC |
| Peg tightness (live)Absolute distance from $1.00 right now — smaller is better. | ●●●●4 of 5 | −0.059% | −0.028% | USDC |
| Worst recorded depegHow badly the token has broken before, as a stress precedent. | ●●●●4 of 5 | -4.8% | -12.0% | USDT |
| Track recordYears live and behaviour through past stress events. | ●●●●4 of 5 | 100 | 99 | USDT |
| Scale / market capBigger float usually means broader venue support and tighter spreads. | ●●●3 of 5 | $182.95B | $71.88B | USDT |
| Chain reachNumber of networks where the token is natively deployed. | ●●●3 of 5 | 104 chains | 123 chains | USDC |
| Best available yieldUpside — but every extra point above T-bills is paid for with risk. | ●●2 of 5 | 17.67% | 21.63% | 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 (91 vs 76), driven mainly by collateral quality and disclosure. USDC has deeper tracked liquidity ($9.31B), which is what determines whether you can exit at size. USDC currently earns up to 21.63% — 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 USDC?
Capital preservation over everything else.
For park cash safely, USDC is the better fit over USDT.
- Safety score 91 vs 76, with collateral rated 95/100.
- Current peg deviation -0.028% against -0.059% for USDT.
- 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
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.
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: 21.63% is earned outside the token itself.
| Metric | USDT | USDC |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Stablecoin | Stablecoin |
| Issuer | Tether | Circle |
| Jurisdiction | El Salvador / BVI | United States (NYDFS / MiCA) |
| Collateral | fiat-reserves | treasuries |
| Peg mechanism | fiat-backed | fiat-backed |
| Attestation | quarterly | monthly |
| Redemption | gated | direct |
| Price | $0.9994 | $0.9997 |
| Peg deviation | −0.059% | −0.028% |
| Market cap | $182.95B | $71.88B |
| 7d supply change | +0.51% | −0.62% |
| Liquidity | $3.49B | $9.31B |
| Best yield | 17.67% (azuro · Polygon) | 21.63% (neutral-trade · Solana) |
| Chains | 104 | 123 |
| Launched | 2014 | 2018 |
| Worst recorded depeg | −4.8% | −12.0% |
Spread, peg gap and switching cost
- Price spread (USDT vs USDC)
- -3.1 bps
- $0.9994 vs $0.9997
- Peg deviation gap
- 0.031 pp
- USDT −0.059% · USDC −0.028%
- Yield spread
- -3.96%
- USDT 17.67% · USDC 21.63%
- Liquidity ratio
- 0.38×
- $3.49B vs $9.31B
A round trip between USDT and USDC costs roughly the market spread plus venue fees. At 3.1 bps of price gap, swapping $1M implies about $311.22 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 USDC 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.
- USDC
USD Coin goes live.
- USDC
Launched by Circle and Coinbase under the Centre consortium.
- 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%).
- USDC
Freezes Tornado Cash addresses after OFAC sanctions — censorship precedent.
- USDT
Shifts reserves decisively toward short-dated US Treasury bills.
- USDT
Banking stress (worst deviation 0.5%).
- 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
USDT is live on 104 chains, USDC on 123. 91 chains carry both, so bridging is only unavoidable for the 45 networks where just one of them is deployed.
| Chain | USDT | USDC | Both available |
|---|---|---|---|
| $74.15B | $46.20B | Yes | |
| $90.48B | $27.93M | Yes | |
| $9.18B | $1.58B | Yes | |
| $2.86B | $6.77B | Yes | |
| $100.27M | $6.03B | Yes | |
| — | $4.23B | USDC only | |
| $852.74M | $2.21B | Yes | |
| $832.75M | $1.62B | Yes | |
| $976.42M | $220.65M | Yes | |
| $382.36M | $438.35M | Yes | |
| $680.39M | — | USDT only | |
| $649.09M | — | USDT only | |
| $437.42M | $23.59M | Yes | |
| $192.98M | $184.87M | Yes | |
| — | $338.07M | USDC only | |
| $77.53M | $255.79M | Yes | |
| $8.56M | $297.31M | Yes | |
| $82.91M | $181.36M | Yes | |
| $228.35M | $2.85M | Yes | |
| — | $179.40M | USDC only |
USDT vs USDC: frequently asked questions
Is USDT or USDC safer?
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On our composite safety score USDC rates 91/100 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 USDC?
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Tether is issued by Tether (El Salvador / BVI), backed by fiat-reserves, with redemption terms: gated. USD Coin is issued by Circle (United States (NYDFS / MiCA)), backed by treasuries, with redemption terms: direct. Attestation coverage is "quarterly" for USDT and "monthly" for USDC.
Which has the bigger market cap, USDT or USDC?
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USDT is larger at $182.95B in circulating supply, against $71.88B for the other. Over the last 7 days supply moved +0.51% for USDT and −0.62% for USDC.
Are USDT and USDC trading at $1.00 right now?
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USDT trades at $0.9994 (−0.059% off peg) and USDC at $0.9997 (−0.028% off peg). The gap between the two is about 3.1 basis points, which is the cost you pay when rotating size between them before fees.
Has USDT or USDC ever depegged?
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USDT: worst recorded deviation −4.8%. 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, USDT or USDC?
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For block size the constraint is exit liquidity and primary redemption, not headline supply. USDC shows deeper on-chain liquidity at $9.31B versus $3.49B. Combine that with the redemption channel — USDT: gated; USDC: direct — and size trades against the primary window rather than the order book where possible.
Can I earn yield on USDT or USDC?
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USDC currently shows the higher rate at 21.63% via neutral-trade · Solana, against 17.67% via azuro · Polygon for USDT. 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 USDC?
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Both are deployed on 91 shared networks, including Tron, Ethereum, BSC, Solana, Aptos, Arbitrum. USDT spans 104 chains in total and USDC spans 123. 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 USDC?
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Budget three components: the current price spread of roughly 3.1 bps, swap or venue fees, and slippage against available depth ($3.49B for USDT, $9.31B for USDC). For meaningful size, redeeming with the issuer and minting the other side is often cheaper than a secondary-market swap.
Is USDT or USDC regulated?
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USDT is issued from El Salvador / BVI with quarterly; 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.