Which coins hold a steady dollar value?
Whether anything keeps the price at a fixed value, and what that depends on.
USDC is designed to be worth one dollar. Circle says it is backed in full by cash and short-dated US government debt, with a monthly report from an accounting firm. It holds for as long as those reserves do.
Source: Circle: transparency · checked 2 October 2026
USDT is designed to be worth one dollar, and Tether says every token is backed in full by its reserves. It holds for as long as those reserves do.
Source: Tether: transparency · checked 2 October 2026
PYUSD is designed to be worth one dollar. Paxos, which issues it for PayPal, says the reserves are held entirely in dollar deposits, US Treasuries and cash equivalents, and publishes a report every month. It holds for as long as those reserves do.
Source: Paxos: PayPal USD · checked 2 October 2026
Dai is soft-pegged to the US dollar. Its white paper says every Dai is backed by collateral locked in the protocol that is worth more than the Dai, and that a position judged too thin is sold off by automatic auction. It holds for as long as that collateral does.
Source: The Maker Protocol white paper · checked 2 October 2026
USDS was launched in 2024 by the project behind Dai, after it renamed itself Sky. Like Dai it is soft-pegged to the US dollar and backed by collateral locked in the protocol. It holds for as long as that collateral does.
Source: The Maker Protocol white paper · checked 2 October 2026
USDe is what Ethena calls a synthetic dollar. Ethena holds crypto assets as backing and offsets their price moves with short futures positions of about the same size. The backing sits with outside custody firms such as Copper and Ceffu. It holds for as long as the backing and the hedge do.
Sources: Ethena docs: how USDe works, Ethena docs: backing asset custody · checked 2 October 2026
RLUSD is designed to be worth one dollar. Ripple says it is backed one for one by dollars and cash equivalents kept in segregated reserve accounts, and publishes a reserve report by an outside accountant every month. It holds for as long as those reserves do.
Source: Ripple docs: RLUSD · checked 2 October 2026
USD1 is designed to be worth one dollar. Its docs say it is backed by cash, US government money market funds and other cash equivalents, all held by BitGo, which issues it. World Liberty Financial does not issue or hold it. It holds for as long as those reserves do.
Source: World Liberty Financial docs: what USD1 is · checked 2 October 2026
Nothing holds bitcoin to a dollar value. Its price is set by what buyers and sellers agree on.
Source: Bitcoin.org FAQ · 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 can be redeemed for what backs them?
- 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.