USDT, issued by Tether, and USDC, issued by Circle, are the two dollar stablecoins most people meet first, and together they made up about 84% of all dollar stablecoins on November 2, 2026. Both aim to trade at $1 and both are redeemable at $1 by approved customers, yet their reserves, auditors, legal homes and redemption terms differ in ways that matter in a crisis. This comparison sets the two side by side using each issuer's latest reserve report and terms. If minting, redemption and pegs are new to you, read how stablecoins work first, and for the wider asset class see the crypto hub.
How do USDC and USDT compare at a glance?
Both are fiat-backed dollar coins redeemable at $1 by approved customers, but they differ in size, reserve mix, oversight and who may use them.
| USDC | USDT | |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | Circle Internet Financial, LLC and a European affiliate, owned by NYSE-listed Circle Internet Group | Tether International, S.A. de C.V., based in El Salvador |
| Supply on November 2, 2026 (DefiLlama) | About $71.6 billion, 24% of dollar stablecoins | About $179.3 billion, 60% of dollar stablecoins |
| Reserve report | Monthly, examined by a Big Four accounting firm under US attestation standards | Quarterly, reasonable-assurance report by BDO in Milan under the international ISAE 3000R standard |
| Assets vs coins, September 30, 2026 | $73.96 billion vs 73.88 billion coins | $191.45 billion vs $183.50 billion of liabilities |
| Cushion | About $78 million, roughly 0.1% | $7.95 billion, about 4.3% |
| Main reserve assets | Government money market fund 84.5%, bank cash 12.8%, Treasury bills 2.4% | Treasury bills 64.2%, gold 10.0%, reverse repos 8.7%, secured loans 7.4%, bitcoin 4.4%, other 5.4% |
| US standing today | Licensed money transmitter; New York BitLicense since 2015; OCC-chartered trust bank opened July 2026 | FinCEN-registered money services business licensed in El Salvador; terms exclude US persons |
| GENIUS Act license | Not yet; the law applies from January 18, 2027 | Not yet; needs the foreign-issuer route by July 18, 2028 |
| Direct redemption | Institutions with a Circle Mint account, at $1 less any fees | Verified non-US customers, $100,000 minimum, fee of the greater of $1,000 or 0.1% |
| Networks | 39 approved blockchains, two of them redemption-only | 13 blockchains |
| Worst recent depeg | 86 cents, March 2023 | 94 cents, May 2022 |
| Interest paid to holders | None | None |
What backs USDC?
Mostly shares of a government money market fund that holds short-term Treasury bills and overnight repurchase agreements, plus cash held at banks.
Circle's examined report lists $73.96 billion of reserves against 73.88 billion USDC in circulation on September 30, 2026. Of that, $62.47 billion sat in the Circle Reserve Fund, a government money market fund managed by BlackRock under the SEC's Rule 2a-7 that Circle owns entirely on behalf of holders. Inside the fund were $25.36 billion of Treasury bills, $36.65 billion of overnight repurchase agreements in which the fund lends cash against Treasury collateral, and about $1 billion of cash. Outside it, Circle held $9.50 billion of cash at regulated financial institutions and $1.76 billion of Treasury bills directly. The longest-dated bill in the report matured on December 31, 2026.
The cushion is slim on purpose: about $77.8 million, or roughly a tenth of a percent of reserves. Circle relies on the quality and short maturity of the assets rather than on a surplus, which means any loss on the bank-cash portion would reach holders quickly unless Circle covered it from its own funds.
The monthly report is an examination under AICPA attestation standards, and Circle also discloses its reserve holdings weekly. The accountant gives reasonable assurance that reserves were at least equal to circulating USDC on the two report dates, September 4 and 30, not on every day in between. Circle says most of the bank cash sits with a handful of the world's largest banks. Circle is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, so its own financial statements are audited and filed with the SEC; reserve income made up 96% of its revenue in 2025.
What backs USDT?
Mostly US Treasury bills and repurchase agreements, but about 27% of Tether's assets were gold, bitcoin, secured loans, equities and other investments at the end of September 2026.
Tether's report shows $191.45 billion of assets against $183.50 billion of liabilities on September 30, 2026, an excess of $7.95 billion, up from an excess of $4.1 billion at the end of June. The breakdown:
| Asset, September 30, 2026 | Amount | Share of assets |
|---|---|---|
| US Treasury bills | $122.84 billion | 64.2% |
| Gold bars | $19.08 billion | 10.0% |
| Overnight and term reverse repos | $16.70 billion | 8.7% |
| Secured loans | $14.18 billion | 7.4% |
| Bitcoin | $8.37 billion | 4.4% |
| Other investments | $6.00 billion | 3.1% |
| Public equities | $4.18 billion | 2.2% |
| Cash, corporate bonds and non-US bills | $0.11 billion | 0.1% |
| Total | $191.45 billion | 100% |
The gold is valued at $4,157.41 an ounce and the bitcoin, held in wallets Tether controls, at $83,621.23, which works out to roughly 100,000 coins. Tether describes its secured loans as overcollateralized and subject to margin calls. Treasury bills and repos supplied most of the $1.5 billion of net operating profit Tether reported for the third quarter.
BDO's opinion covers the figures at 11:59 p.m. UTC on September 30, 2026 and nothing else: it tested no other date and gave no assurance on the notes describing Tether's licenses and networks. The report adds that Tether's 2025 financial statements were audited and approved by shareholders on August 13, 2026, without naming the auditor.
How much loss can each cushion absorb?
Tether's cushion could absorb roughly a 29% fall in its gold and bitcoin; Circle's would vanish after a loss of about 0.1% of reserves.
Worked example: Stress-testing the September 30, 2026 reports (hypothetical)
- USDT. Gold of $19.08 billion plus bitcoin of $8.37 billion is $27.45 billion. The $7.95 billion excess divided by $27.45 billion is 29%, so a 29% fall in both, with everything else unchanged, leaves assets roughly equal to liabilities.
- A deeper fall. A 40% drop in gold and bitcoin would cost $10.98 billion, leaving $180.47 billion of assets against $183.50 billion of liabilities, about 98.4 cents per dollar owed.
- USDC. If a bank failure froze $3.3 billion of reserves, the same amount trapped in 2023, $70.66 billion would remain for 73.88 billion coins, about 95.6 cents per coin.
- Neither case counts the issuer adding its own capital, which Circle pledged to do in 2023, or the cash Tether earns each quarter.
A large cushion on assets that can fall in value, or a thin cushion on assets that barely move: neither design removes run risk, because both depend on selling assets fast enough when redemptions surge.
How do Circle's and Tether's legal positions differ?
Circle is a US company with state licenses and a federal trust bank, while Tether issues USDT from El Salvador and its terms exclude US persons.
Circle Internet Financial is a licensed money transmitter, NMLS number 1201441, and in 2015 became the first company to receive New York's BitLicense. It applied to the OCC for a national trust bank on June 30, 2025, won conditional approval in December 2025 and final approval in July 2026. Circle National Trust opened on July 24, 2026, offering custody services to Circle's own companies, with management of the USDC reserve described as a possible later step, and a New York limited purpose trust charter followed on July 31. None of these is an approval under the GENIUS Act, whose licensing regime starts on January 18, 2027.
Tether International says it is registered with FinCEN as a money services business and authorized in El Salvador as a stablecoin issuer and digital asset service provider. Its terms, updated February 26, 2026, say US persons, other than eligible contract participants it approves, are "prohibited from directly or indirectly holding, owning or operating a Tether Tokens Wallet or Tether Tokens in any way." Its record includes two 2021 settlements. The CFTC fined Tether $41 million after finding that from September 2016 to November 2018 its designated bank accounts held enough dollars to cover all tokens on only 27.6% of days, although Tether said it also counted other assets. New York's attorney general settled with Tether and its affiliate Bitfinex for $18.5 million and required regular reporting.
Under the GENIUS Act, USDT is a foreign issuer's coin. From July 18, 2028, US platforms may sell it only if the Treasury rules El Salvador's oversight comparable and Tether registers with the OCC, among other conditions, and no such finding had been published by November 2, 2026. Tether says USDT is progressing toward compliance, and for American customers it launched USAT on January 27, 2026. USAT is issued by Anchorage Digital Bank, N.A., a federally chartered bank supervised by the OCC, with Cantor Fitzgerald as reserve custodian, so it is a different token from a different issuer. The GENIUS Act guide details the foreign-issuer route, and crypto regulation in the US maps the agencies involved.
How does redemption work for each coin?
Only verified customers can redeem directly: Circle through institutional Circle Mint accounts, and Tether through verified accounts with a $100,000 minimum that exclude US persons.
Circle's terms commit it to redeem one USDC for $1, less fees where applicable, for holders with a Circle Mint account in good standing; anyone else must open one first, and Circle says Mint is open only to institutions, not individuals. Under the same terms Circle charges nothing to mint USDC or to receive it, but does charge for sending USDC on chain out of a Mint account, as listed on its fee schedule.
Tether's fee page sets a $100,000 minimum for buying or redeeming, a redemption fee of the greater of $1,000 or 0.1%, a 0.1% fee on purchases, and a non-refundable verification deposit of 150 USDT. Tether keeps sole discretion over which accounts it approves.
Worked example: What a direct USDT redemption costs at different sizes
- $100,000, the minimum: a $1,000 fee, or 1.0%.
- $250,000: still $1,000, because 0.1% would be only $250, or 0.4%.
- $1,000,000: $1,000, or 0.1%.
- $5,000,000: $5,000, still 0.1%.
- A new account adds the one-time 150 USDT verification deposit.
- An individual with $5,000 of either coin cannot redeem directly and would sell on a platform instead. At a market price of $0.9995, that sale brings in $4,997.50 before the platform's trading fee.
The flat $1,000 floor makes small direct redemptions costly, which is one reason only large firms redeem and everyone else relies on the market price staying near $1.
Which blockchains carry USDC and USDT?
USDC is issued on 39 blockchains approved by Circle and USDT on 13, but most of each coin's supply sits on just one or two networks.
On November 2, 2026, about 51% of USDT's supply was on Tron and 39% on Ethereum, while about 62% of USDC was on Ethereum and about 10% on Solana, according to DefiLlama. Circle has made two of its networks redemption-only: Tron since February 21, 2024 and Noble since October 13, 2026. Tether ended its obligation to redeem USDT on five older networks, including Omni on Bitcoin and EOS, on September 1, 2025.
Not every token labeled USDT or USDC is the real thing. DefiLlama counted about $9.2 billion of USDT on BNB Chain, a network missing from Tether's list of 13, so those tokens are bridged copies rather than coins Tether issued. Tether's terms say wrapped or bridged versions are not Tether tokens and cannot be redeemed with it. Before sending either coin, match the network on both sides; sending money with stablecoins compares network fees for transfers abroad.
How have USDC and USDT held their pegs in a crisis?
Both have broken $1 under stress: USDT fell to 94 cents in May 2022 and USDC to 86 cents in March 2023, and each recovered within days.
USDT's test came during the Terra collapse. On May 11, 2022 it touched $0.94 on secondary markets, or about $0.97 to $0.98 on hourly prices, and was back just below $1 within a day, according to the Financial Stability Oversight Council. Its market value fell from roughly $83 billion to about $74 billion by May 18 as holders redeemed and sold, while USDC's price and supply rose.
USDC's test came ten months later, when $3.3 billion of its reserves was trapped at Silicon Valley Bank over a weekend in which Circle could not process redemptions. The roles reversed: USDT traded slightly above $1 as money moved out of USDC. The hour-by-hour story is in how stablecoins work, and the stablecoin depeg history study covers other breaks.
How big are USDC and USDT today?
The table below shows the six largest dollar stablecoins by circulating supply, with 30-day changes, latest prices and backing types.
| Stablecoin | Circulating supply | 30-day change | Price | Backing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tether (USDT) | $179.28B | -2.5% | $0.9990 | fiat backed |
| USD Coin (USDC) | $71.44B | -3.7% | $0.9995 | fiat backed |
| Sky Dollar (USDS) | $6.39B | -4.8% | $1.0000 | crypto backed |
| Dai (DAI) | $4.72B | -1.5% | $1.0001 | crypto backed |
| Ethena USDe (USDe) | $4.54B | -7.1% | $0.9985 | crypto backed |
| World Liberty Financial USD (USD1) | $3.89B | -12.4% | $0.9981 | fiat backed |
For this comparison, read the 30-day change of the two coins together. Supply moves only when businesses mint or redeem, so a rise shows net demand for new coins and a fall shows net redemptions; in May 2022, USDT's supply shrank while USDC's grew. In the price column, a fraction of a cent between the two is normal; in 2022 and in 2023 the coin under stress traded several cents below the other. The top stablecoins page tracks more coins and longer history.
How do the trade-offs differ by use?
The coins suit different priorities: US regulatory standing and simple reserves on one side, a larger market and bigger cushion on the other.
- US legal clarity. USDC comes from a US-licensed company with a federal trust bank, while Tether's terms exclude US persons and its US offering is a separate coin, USAT.
- What sits behind the coin. USDC holds only cash, Treasury bills and repos. USDT holds mostly bills and repos but also assets that can lose value quickly.
- Size of the cushion. USDT's surplus is about forty times the relative size of USDC's, which matters only as long as the riskier assets hold their value.
- Where the coin lives. Most USDT sits on Tron and Ethereum and most USDC on Ethereum and Solana, so the networks a recipient or platform supports can settle the choice.
- Earning a return. Neither issuer pays holders anything; any reward comes from a platform or lender, as stablecoin yield vs bank interest explains.
What are the risks of holding USDC or USDT?
Both coins can trade below $1, both issuers can freeze tokens, neither coin is insured, and the rules for each change from January 2027.
- Reserve risk. A loss on USDC's bank cash passes through its thin cushion almost at once, while a fall in USDT's gold, bitcoin or loan collateral eats into a larger but more volatile one.
- Legal and access risk. Tether's terms exclude US persons, and from July 18, 2028 USDT's availability on US platforms depends on the foreign-issuer route.
- Freezes. Circle can block addresses under its blocklisting policy and Tether can freeze tokens and blacklist addresses, including in response to legal orders.
- Platform risk. Coins held on an exchange are a claim on that exchange, whatever the issuer's reserves; see how safe crypto is on an exchange.
- No insurance. Neither coin is covered by the FDIC or SIPC.
- Volatility. Stablecoins have broken their pegs, and crypto as a whole is volatile and can lose most or all of its value.
Read the latest reserve report for whichever coin you hold, since both change monthly or quarterly, and check how you would actually get dollars back before you need them.