Global (multi-region) stablecoins

Overview

Global is not a place. It is the cluster for coins with no single home market, and in practice that mostly means the dollar: most of the roster below is dollar pegged.

It is also a cluster where the word stablecoin covers quite different instruments. Separating the two largest kinds is worth doing before reading any individual row.

Sources: Circle, transparency page, Tether transparency page

Market structure

The first kind is the fiat reserve issuer. A company takes dollars, holds them mainly in cash and short term instruments, and issues a token redeemable at par. USDC, USDT, PYUSD, USDP and RLUSD sit here. Circle, for example, says a Big Four accounting firm provides monthly third-party assurance that USDC reserves are greater than the USDC in circulation.

The second is the protocol dollar. DAI, USDS, crvUSD and GHO are minted against collateral through smart contracts, and synthetic dollars such as USDe hold their peg through collateral and hedged positions rather than through a bank account. Their backing is not uniform. GHO and crvUSD are borrowed against collateral deposited into the protocol. Sky says USDS and DAI are backed by Protocol Collateral across a portfolio of onchain and real world assets. Ethena says monthly attestations are completed with its custodians to validate the existence, control and value of the assets backing USDe.

Sources: Circle, transparency page, Aave, GHO documentation, Curve, crvUSD LLAMMA explainer, Sky documentation, Ethena, custodian attestations

Regulation

No global rulebook governs the stablecoins in this cluster. The Financial Stability Board issued its global framework for crypto-asset activities in 2023. Its 16 October 2025 peer review found that implementation is incomplete, uneven and inconsistent, and that this creates opportunities for regulatory arbitrage. It also notes that few jurisdictions have finalised their regulatory frameworks for global stablecoin arrangements.

For the dollar stablecoins that dominate this page, the main national law is the United States GENIUS Act, signed on 18 July 2025. It requires one to one reserves in liquid assets and a public monthly report on reserve composition. It takes effect on the earlier of 18 January 2027 or 120 days after final federal rules.

Sources: FSB, gaps in implementation of crypto and stablecoin recommendations, 16 October 2025, GENIUS Act, S.1582, full text (Congress.gov), White House, fact sheet on the GENIUS Act signing

Common questions