Stablecoin Directory: USDT, USDC, DAI, and More

This is a factual, descriptive listing of six major stablecoins — what backs each one, who issues it, and where it’s primarily used. It is not a ranking, a review, or an investment recommendation, and no coin here is presented as “best.” If you haven’t bought a stablecoin before, the actual purchase process is covered on the how to buy a stablecoin page; this page exists to help you decide which one first. Once you’ve picked one, Sending & Storing Stablecoins covers what to do with it afterward.

USDT (Tether)

USDT is the largest stablecoin by market capitalization. It is fiat-backed, with Tether holding a large majority of its reserves in short-term US Treasuries alongside other cash-equivalent assets. USDT is available across the widest range of blockchain networks of any stablecoin covered here (including Tron, Ethereum, and several others), which is a major reason for its broad exchange and wallet support.

USDC (USD Coin)

USDC is issued by Circle, with reserves held in the Circle Reserve Fund — an SEC-registered institutional money market fund managed by BlackRock, invested mostly in short-duration US Treasuries and overnight repurchase agreements, with a smaller portion in cash at large banks. USDC is fiat-backed and widely supported across major exchanges and DeFi platforms.

DAI (issued by MakerDAO)

DAI is the main crypto-backed stablecoin covered here — rather than fiat reserves, it is backed by other crypto assets (such as ETH) locked as over-collateralization, commonly in the 150–200% range, with smart contracts able to automatically liquidate positions that fall under-collateralized. This makes DAI’s backing mechanism fundamentally different from the fiat-backed coins on this page, and its market capitalization is considerably smaller than USDT or USDC.

PYUSD (PayPal USD)

PYUSD is issued by Paxos under New York Department of Financial Services oversight and is integrated directly into PayPal’s payment network, with acceptance for settlement through Visa and Mastercard. It is fiat-backed, and its main distinguishing factor versus USDT/USDC is this direct payment-network integration.

FDUSD (First Digital USD)

FDUSD is issued by First Digital Trust, a smaller fiat-backed issuer with more regional and exchange-specific liquidity than USDT or USDC rather than the same breadth of independent support.

TUSD (TrueUSD)

TUSD is another smaller fiat-backed stablecoin, similarly more exchange- and region-specific in its liquidity than the largest coins on this page.

Frequently asked questions