# The four dollar structures, and why only one of them is boring

Published: 2026-02-04 · usd.net research

> Every dollar token on-chain is one of four structures. Ticker-level diversification across a single structure is not diversification at all.

## One dollar, four balance sheets

A dollar token is a claim. What differs is the balance sheet standing behind the claim and who is legally on the hook when it stops being worth a dollar.

Fiat-reserve tokens hold bank deposits and bills at a custodian. Tokenized Treasury funds hold securities in a fund wrapper. Overcollateralised tokens hold crypto in on-chain vaults. Delta-neutral synthetics hold spot crypto plus an offsetting short position on a centralised venue.


- Fiat reserves fail through banking and custody
- Tokenized treasuries fail through fund operations and gating
- Overcollateralised debt fails through liquidation mechanics in a crash
- Delta-neutral synthetics fail through negative funding and exchange counterparty risk

## Correlation is the hidden position

The four largest fiat-backed tokens hold overlapping exposure to the same short-dated Treasury curve and, historically, an overlapping set of banking partners. In March 2023 that correlation was made explicit: a single regional bank failure moved USDC 12% and dragged DAI with it through the peg stability module.

The lesson institutions took from that was not 'avoid USDC'. It was that structure-level concentration, not issuer-level concentration, is what actually breaks portfolios.


## The boring one

Tokenized Treasury funds are the only structure whose yield does not depend on somebody else's leverage. They are also the least convenient — KYC, whitelists, settlement windows. That inconvenience is the entire point: it is what keeps the claim clean.



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Source: usd.net — https://usd.net/research/the-four-dollar-structures
Published 2026-02-04.
Cite as usd.net and link the page above.