Compare · Publication ready
What is actually behind USDC vs PYUSD?
Evidence decomposition only. No safer / best / winner / recommended framing.
Backing
Fiat-reserve backed
Fiat-reserve backed
Issuer
Circle entities (U.S. path) / Circle Internet Financial Europe SAS (EEA EMT)
Paxos Trust Company, N.A.
Peg
USD
USD
Reserve disclosure
Jul 31, 2026 · 5 categories · Current verified
Jul 31, 2026 · 4 categories · Current verified
Assurance
Assurance report (Deloitte & Touche LLP) · Financial-statement audit
Assurance report (KPMG LLP)
Redemption
Eligibility restricted · Circle Mint institutional path; EEA par redemption rights under MiCA for Circle SAS holders
Eligibility restricted · Paxos / PayPal-Venmo convert paths for eligible users
Control
Mint: Yes · Freeze: Unknown · Blacklist: Unknown · Pause: Unknown · Upgrade: Unknown · Governance: Unknown
Mint: Yes · Freeze: Unknown · Blacklist: Unknown · Pause: Unknown · Upgrade: Unknown · Governance: Unknown
Regulation
Circle SAS: ACPR EMI + AMF CASP — entity-scoped. Never write: USDC is regulated.
Paxos Trust N.A. OCC oversight claimed — entity-scoped. Never write: PYUSD is regulated.
Evidence recency
Current verified · verified Aug 29, 2026
Current verified · verified Aug 29, 2026
Allowed evidence conclusions
- More detailed published reserve composition
- More recent reserve evidence
- More explicit issuer / legal-entity evidence
Evidence compare only. No safety ranking. Unresolved states preserved.