CashboardGlossary · Stablecoins
What is a stablecoin?
A stablecoin is a crypto token built to hold a fixed value, almost always one US dollar, backed by cash reserves, crypto collateral or a hedge.
How does a stablecoin work?
Stablecoins are the cash leg of crypto. Traders park in them between trades, post them as perp margin, pay with them and move them across chains at 3am on a Sunday without asking a bank. Two issuers dominate. In September 2026 DefiLlama counts a little over $300 billion in stablecoins, and Tether's USDT alone is close to 60 percent of it, with Circle's USDC at about a quarter.
What differs is what stands behind the token. Fiat-backed coins like USDC and USDT hold mostly cash and short-term Treasury bills, and approved customers can redeem one token for one dollar. Crypto-backed coins such as DAI and its successor USDS are minted against more collateral than they issue. Synthetic dollars like Ethena's USDe hold crypto and short the same amount in perps, so the position nets out close to flat.
US regulation caught up in 2025. The GENIUS Act, signed in July 2025, requires payment stablecoins to be backed one to one by reserves such as cash and short-term Treasuries, and it bans issuers from paying holders interest. The EU had already applied its MiCA rules to stablecoins from June 2024.
Say you close a SOL long and end up with 10,000 USDC on Solana. You can sit in it or bridge it to Base in a few minutes, for cents. The dollars never touch a bank account. They do carry Circle's risk, though, and that is the part people forget until a weekend like March 2023.
Also called: stablecoins, stable coin.
Where does a stablecoin show up in Cashboard?
The Stablecoin risk widget lists the largest stablecoins by supply, each with its price against $1, the chains that hold most of it and a Low, Watch or High flag. Market flows adds DefiLlama's total stablecoin supply. Start from the Stablecoin Risk template and you get both, plus a Chain status widget covering Base, Ethereum, Solana, Arbitrum and BNB Chain and a second Market flows panel on its bridges tab. That one can come up empty, because DefiLlama's free feed does not always carry bridge volume.
Frequently asked questions
Are stablecoins backed by real dollars?
USDC holds cash and short-term US government debt, which is about as close to real dollars as you get outside a bank. USDT is mostly Treasury bills too, but Tether also keeps some bitcoin, gold and secured loans in its reserves. DAI and USDS lean on crypto collateral and tokenized Treasuries, and USDe on a hedged crypto position, so the answer depends on which coin you hold.
Where can you read more about stablecoin?
Related terms
Last reviewed . Market data in Cashboard comes from the providers named on each widget and may be delayed. Nothing here is financial advice.