Stablecoin risk glossary

How far the market price sits from the token's reference value, in percent. USD.NET computes it as (price − peg target) ÷ peg target.

A sustained, material break from the reference value — not a momentary wick. Usually defined as trading beyond a threshold (commonly 0.5%) for a meaningful period.

The machinery that holds the price at par: fiat redemption, over-collateralised crypto vaults, delta-neutral hedges, or algorithmic supply control.

The size you can trade before moving the price. On USD.NET this is indexed on-chain DEX pool depth containing the asset; centralised order books are not included.

The difference between the quoted price and the executed price on a trade, driven by depth, volatility and routing.

Circulating token supply multiplied by price, summed across every indexed chain. For stablecoins this is effectively the outstanding liability of the issuer.

What the issuer actually holds against outstanding tokens: T-bills, overnight repo, bank deposits, commercial paper, crypto collateral, or a mix.

An attestation is an accountant's point-in-time confirmation of reserve balances. A full audit is a broader opinion on financial statements. Most stablecoins publish the former.

Value of collateral divided by value of outstanding tokens. Fiat-backed designs target ~100%; crypto-backed designs deliberately run well above it.

Whether reserve assets are legally segregated from the issuer's estate, so holders are paid ahead of general creditors if the issuer fails.

Which regime the issuer operates under — for example EU MiCA e-money tokens, a NYDFS trust charter, or a Singapore/UAE licence — and the reserve, reporting and redemption duties that come with it.

How much of the reserve, custody or redemption pipeline depends on a single bank, custodian or jurisdiction.

Whether the issuer can freeze balances or blacklist addresses on-chain. Standard for compliant fiat-backed tokens; absent in decentralised designs.

The right to exchange a token for one unit of the underlying with the issuer, and the conditions attached: eligibility, minimum size, fees and settlement time.

USD.NET's 0–100 composite of reserve quality, attestation cadence, regulatory status, peg stability and liquidity depth. Opinionated, not a credit rating.

Annualised return of a pool or product, usually the trailing rate as reported by the protocol. It is a backward-looking observation, not a promise.

Base APY comes from organic borrowing demand or trading fees. Reward APY comes from token emissions and is contingent on the incentive programme continuing.

Headline APY discounted by the pool's durability rating, so a fragile 20% and a robust 6% can be compared on one axis.

USD.NET's A–E grade for how likely a pool's yield is to persist, built from depth, reward sustainability and TVL/peg stability.

Value of assets deposited in a pool or protocol. Used as a depth proxy: it caps the size you can enter and exit without moving the market.

What you actually keep: gross APY minus gas, bridging, swap slippage, protocol fees and any withholding — over your real holding period.

The number of chains where a token has meaningful circulating supply. Broad coverage helps distribution but fragments liquidity.

Native supply is minted by the issuer directly on that chain. Bridged supply is a wrapped claim whose safety depends on the bridge, not the issuer.

A token representing an off-chain asset — T-bill funds, gold, credit or equities. Unlike a stablecoin it is not pegged to $1 and its price moves with the underlying.

A 20-character global identifier for the legal entity behind an issuer, maintained under GLEIF. It resolves 'who exactly is the counterparty' to a single verifiable code.