What backs a stablecoin like USDT or USDC,
and can you get the dollar back?
Who holds the reserves? Can you redeem directly, or do you need an exchange buyer? What happens when a bank or a blockchain stops working? Explore stablecoins through their backing, payment routes and failure cases.
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Our Binance walkthrough covers eligibility, identity review and security before funding.
Three starting points, depending on your question
Pick the page that matches where you are; you do not need to read the whole site first.
You can't decide between USDT and USDC
Compare backing, redemption access and market liquidity. Decide which differences matter for the way you hold and move money.
Open the comparison Type B · First time hearing the wordStablecoin, in 10 minutes, no jargon
Four categories of stablecoin, why Luna failed, where the dollar peg actually comes from. Plain prose.
Open the primer Type C · Already holding, still nervous20 Questions New Stablecoin Holders Often Ask
From "is my USDT safe overnight" to "do I owe tax if I never converted to dollars" — answered with sources.
Open the FAQA token can trade at a dollar while its holder has no direct route to a dollar in a bank account. That gap between the promise and the available exit is what interests us. Reserve documents, redemption terms and trading prices each reveal part of it. Where a published claim is wrong, a dated correction should explain what changed and why.
The questions we keep coming back to
Three long reads: a side-by-side comparison of USDT and USDC, a primer for readers new to the category, and an FAQ for people who already hold stablecoins.
USDT vs USDC, the 2026 report
Reserves, redemption, regulation and liquidity. The report compares the two tokens and discusses the SVB weekend and the Tether settlement as different kinds of risk.
What is a stablecoin, in ten minutes
Four types: fiat-backed, crypto-backed, algorithmic, commodity-backed. The Luna collapse used as the cautionary tale, and a section on where the peg can fail.
20 Questions New Stablecoin Holders Often Ask
Safety, custody, tax, buying and cashing out. A place to look up a specific question before opening a longer report.
Six stablecoins, six starting questions
A useful comparison starts with evidence you can inspect. These questions lead into the reports; this table is not a live price board or a safety ranking.
| Coin | Start here | Evidence to inspect | Read more |
|---|---|---|---|
| USDT | Who can use the dollar redemption route? | Eligibility, redemption terms and dated reserve reports | Price stress and redemption |
| USDC | Where could access to reserve cash be interrupted? | Bank exposure and the scope of reserve attestations | The SVB weekend |
| DAI / USDS | Which collateral and governance rules support the token? | Protocol documentation, collateral data and liquidation rules | Compare the mechanisms |
| FDUSD | Which entity issues the token, and which holds its assets? | Named legal entities, reserve disclosures and official licence registers | The FDUSD report |
| TUSD | How current and complete is the evidence available to you? | Disclosure dates, reporting scope and redemption conditions | Reading reserve disclosures |
| PYUSD | How does holding the token differ from an app balance? | Issuer terms, reserve reports and supported transfer networks | PYUSD and its use cases |
Record the date of any document you use. A reserve statement describes a reporting period; it is not a live guarantee about redemption or market price.
Ten events that changed the stablecoin map, 2021–2026
Dates checked September 2026. Each entry links to the original announcement or rule.
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2021 · 02
NYAG settles with Bitfinex and Tether
The NYAG settlement announcement describes reserve misrepresentations, $18.5 million in penalties and restrictions on trading with New Yorkers.
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2022 · 05
Terra UST and Luna death spiral
UST lost its dollar peg and the Terra ecosystem collapsed. The SEC's later enforcement announcement records the May 2022 collapse in its account of the case.
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2023 · 02
NYDFS halts new BUSD issuance
Paxos announces on February 13 that new BUSD issuance will stop on February 21 under NYDFS direction. Issuance and redemption are separate parts of the wind-down.
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2023 · 03
USDC and the SVB banking shock
Circle reports $3.3 billion held at SVB and says the money will become available after the US authorities protect the failed bank's deposits.
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2023 · 08
PYUSD launches
PayPal announces PYUSD, a dollar stablecoin issued by Paxos Trust Company.
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2024 · 06
MiCA stablecoin provisions begin applying
Article 149 sets June 30, 2024 for Titles III and IV, covering asset-referenced and e-money tokens.
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2024 · 12
The wider MiCA framework starts applying
December 30, 2024 is the general application date in Article 149. It should not be confused with June's stablecoin-specific date.
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2025 · 06
Circle IPO on the NYSE
Circle's public listing under CRCL belongs to June 2025, not June 2024. Its second-quarter results record completion of the IPO.
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2025 · 08
Hong Kong stablecoin ordinance
The Hong Kong government announcement gives August 1, 2025 as the commencement date of the Stablecoins Ordinance and its licensing regime.
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2026 · 07
MiCA's maximum legacy-provider transition ends
Article 143 allows eligible existing service providers to continue no later than July 1, 2026, with earlier national or authorisation deadlines possible. This is not a common USDT delisting date.
Reading a report on StableDesk
Check what the source actually establishes
A transaction record can show an on-chain transfer. It cannot prove an issuer's bank balance. A reserve attestation has its own date and scope. Keep those limits in view when comparing claims.
Every correction is logged with its date
If we get a number wrong, the corrections page records the date, the page and what changed. We do not silently rewrite old posts.
The Binance referral relationship
This site displays Binance referral code BN16188 and may receive a commission from qualifying referrals. The affiliate disclosure explains that commercial interest. An issuer or regulator cited in a report has not endorsed this site.
Primary sources cited in our reports
The references we cite most often. Follow any link to read the original document and check our reading against the source.
Issuer disclosures
- Tether TransparencyQuarterly attestation
- Circle TransparencyUSDC monthly attestation
- MakerDAO StatsDAI on-chain collateral
- First Digital TrustFDUSD monthly
- Paxos TransparencyPYUSD and USDP
Regulators and enforcement
- NYAG · Bitfinex / Tether settlementFeb 2021
- SEC press releasesBUSD, stablecoin actions
- ESMA · MiCAEU framework
- HKMA announcementsHK stablecoin ordinance
- FinCENUS MSB and BSA
On-chain and market data
- DeFiLlama · StablecoinsCross-chain supply
- Dune AnalyticsPublic on-chain queries
- CoinMarketCap · StablecoinCEX prices
- EtherscanERC-20 verification
- TRONSCANTRC-20 verification
External links carry rel="nofollow noopener". We are not responsible for the content of third-party sites; the references are listed so you can verify our reading.
Who writes StableDesk, and what the site does not sell
StableDesk explains how stablecoins are issued, backed and moved, working from the issuers' and exchanges' own published documents. There are no coin promotions, paid courses or Telegram groups here; what you do with the information is your call.
Wen Lu
Wen Lu is the pen name on StableDesk articles, which follow stablecoin mechanics and cross-chain bridges. Reserve paragraphs are written from the reserve reports that Tether and Circle publish.
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