KoinlyticsUSDC and USDT together back 85% of all stablecoin supply. They both target a $1 peg via 1:1 redemption. The differences are in reserves, transparency, and behavior under stress.
USDC (Circle)
- Issuer: Circle Internet Financial.
- Reserves: cash + short-term US Treasuries. Weekly attestation from Deloitte.
- Redemption: instant for institutional customers with Circle Mint accounts.
- Blacklist: yes, comply with US OFAC.
- Regulatory posture: fully compliant, MiCA-authorized in EU.
USDT (Tether)
- Issuer: Tether Limited (Bahamas).
- Reserves: mix of T-bills, cash, Bitcoin, gold, some overnight repos, secured loans. Quarterly attestation from BDO.
- Redemption: only through Tether directly, minimum $100k.
- Blacklist: yes, comply with law enforcement requests.
- Regulatory posture: less transparent, delisted from many EU venues under MiCA.
Peg behavior
Both maintained $1 peg through the 2022-2023 stress period. USDT briefly traded at 0.95 during Terra collapse. USDC de-pegged to 0.87 during the Silicon Valley Bank crisis (March 2023) when $3.3B of reserves were briefly at risk.
Chain availability
- USDC: Ethereum, Solana, Base, Arbitrum, Polygon, Avalanche, TRC-20, more.
- USDT: everywhere. Every EVM chain, TRC-20, Solana, Cosmos-IBC, TON, Aptos. Widest support.
When to use which
- Regulated venue, EU user: USDC.
- Global payment or Asian OTC: USDT.
- Native on Solana or Base: USDC dominates.
- Tron for cheap transfers: USDT.
Pick both
For any meaningful holding: diversify across both. Different failure modes, different regulatory exposures.