Which coins can be redeemed for what backs them?
A token backed by dollars or by another coin is a claim. This is who will honour the claim, and for whom.
Each PAXG is backed by one fine troy ounce of gold stored in vaults in London and held in custody by Paxos Trust Company. Paxos says it can be redeemed for gold bars, or for dollars at the gold price at any time.
Source: Paxos: Pax Gold · checked 2 October 2026
Only holders of a Circle Mint account can swap USDC for dollars with Circle itself, and those accounts are for institutions, not individuals. Everyone else sells it on an exchange.
Source: Circle Mint · checked 2 October 2026
Tether swaps USDT for dollars only for customers it has verified, from $100,000 at a time and for a fee. Everyone else sells it on an exchange.
Source: Tether: fees · checked 2 October 2026
Paxos redeems PYUSD for dollars one for one for its own customers. Anyone who is not its customer sells it elsewhere.
Source: Paxos: PayPal USD · checked 2 October 2026
Only users Ethena has approved after identity checks can create USDe or redeem it with Ethena. Everyone else buys and sells it on exchanges and in trading pools.
Sources: Ethena docs: peg arbitrage, Ethena docs: FAQ · checked 2 October 2026
Institutions buy RLUSD from Ripple and redeem it with Ripple directly. Its docs point retail businesses to exchanges instead.
Source: Ripple docs: RLUSD · checked 2 October 2026
BitGo redeems USD1 for dollars one for one for its own eligible customers, after its checks and approval. Other holders sell it on the exchanges and platforms that support it.
Source: World Liberty Financial docs: what USD1 is · checked 2 October 2026
The other questions
- Which coins can be sold for dollars?
- Which coins can be held without a company?
- Which coins can send a payment?
- Which coins can earn a return by themselves?
- Which coins can run applications?
- Which coins limit their own supply?
- Which coins hold a steady dollar value?
- Which coins can be used on other chains?
What a coin can do is not a reason to buy it or to sell it, and nothing here is advice. Each answer names where it comes from and the day we read it. A coin we have not written up is left out, not marked down. How these answers are written.