Risk layer 1 · Coin

Risk profile of each coin

What is your money? Stablecoins are rated on reserves, licences and peg history; other coins on asset quality (network age, market cap, concentration, halts). A coin’s tier does not include price risk.

Stablecoins

Tether

Last reviewed 25/09/2026

B· Medium risk · meets 2/5 criteria

The largest stablecoin (about USD 184 billion), with very high liquidity. However, its reserves include a significant share of BTC, gold and loans, are only attested quarterly, and S&P rates its peg stability as 'weak'. USDT is not licensed in the EU or the US.

!Reserve attestations exist but are not monthly
!Reserves include mostly Treasury bills but also riskier assets (bitcoin, gold, loans…)
!Issuer has no licence from a major regulator (EU MiCA, New York, Singapore…)
✓Operating since 2014-10 (11 years)
✓No material depeg in the last 3 years (earlier: USDT fell to USD 0.85 on Kraken amid market doubts about Tether/Bitfinex liquidity (2018-10, low of 0.85 USD); Depegged after the UST/Terra collapse; about USD 16 billion redeemed in about 1 week (2022-05, low of 0.95 USD))
iThe issuer can freeze wallet addresses (usually at the request of authorities).
iEl Salvador's digital asset service provider (DASP) licence (CNAD, early 2025) is the issuer's only licence; it has no effect in the EU or US, so it does not count as a licence from a major regulator.
iS&P Global downgraded its assessment of USDT's peg stability to the lowest level, 5 ('weak'), due to increased risky assets (BTC, gold, loans) and limited disclosure; this level was unchanged in the 08/2026 update.
iUSDT is not authorised as an EMT under MiCA. Exchanges licensed in the EEA delisted USDT trading pairs for EU users from 2025; the transition period ended on 01/07/2026.
iIn the US, Tether issues a separate token, USAT, through Anchorage Digital Bank (supervised by the OCC) under the GENIUS Act. USDT itself is not licensed in the US.
iIn 2021 Tether settled for USD 18.5 million with the New York Attorney General over false statements about its reserves, and was fined USD 41 million by the CFTC.
iS&P Global Stablecoin Stability Assessment (2025-11): 5 on a 1–5 scale (weak). For reference only, not part of the risk tier.

Facts and sources

Issuer: Tether International, S.A. de C.V. (El Salvador; formerly Tether Limited, BVI)
Launched: 2014-10
Reserves: Mixed (includes riskier assets)As of 30/06/2026: total assets of USD 187.75 billion against USD 183.64 billion in liabilities (surplus of USD 4.11 billion, about 2.2%); US Treasury bills about 61%, repo, gold about 10% (USD 18.8 billion), BTC about 3.1% (USD 5.8 billion), secured loans about 7.2% (USD 13.45 billion).
Reserve attestation: Irregular · latest 2026-06 · BDO (BDO Italia)BDO provides quarterly attestations, not monthly. On 13/08/2026 Tether announced that KPMG had completed an audit of its 2025 financial statements with an unqualified opinion, but the full report has not been published.[tether.io]
Licences / registrations: None from a major regulator
Depeg history: 2022-11 · Fell about 3% below the peg during the FTX collapse · low of 0.97 USD · recovered[coindesk.com]
2022-05 · Depegged after the UST/Terra collapse; about USD 16 billion redeemed in about 1 week · low of 0.95 USD · recovered[cnbc.com]
2018-10 · USDT fell to USD 0.85 on Kraken amid market doubts about Tether/Bitfinex liquidity · low of 0.85 USD · recovered[bloomberg.com]
Wallet freezing: Yes: the issuer can freeze addresses
Notes: 2025-01 · El Salvador's digital asset service provider (DASP) licence (CNAD, early 2025) is the issuer's only licence; it has no effect in the EU or US, so it does not count as a licence from a major regulator.[tether.io]
2025-11 · S&P Global downgraded its assessment of USDT's peg stability to the lowest level, 5 ('weak'), due to increased risky assets (BTC, gold, loans) and limited disclosure; this level was unchanged in the 08/2026 update.[spglobal.com]
2025-03 · USDT is not authorised as an EMT under MiCA. Exchanges licensed in the EEA delisted USDT trading pairs for EU users from 2025; the transition period ended on 01/07/2026.[financemagnates.com]
2026-01 · In the US, Tether issues a separate token, USAT, through Anchorage Digital Bank (supervised by the OCC) under the GENIUS Act. USDT itself is not licensed in the US.[coindesk.com]
2021-02 · In 2021 Tether settled for USD 18.5 million with the New York Attorney General over false statements about its reserves, and was fined USD 41 million by the CFTC.[coindesk.com]

USD Coin

Last reviewed 25/09/2026

A· Lower risk · meets 5/5 criteria

Reserves are almost entirely cash, Treasury bills and repo, attested monthly; the issuer is licensed in the EU (MiCA), New York and by the OCC. The main risk is the banks holding reserves, as in the depeg to USD 0.87 when SVB collapsed in 2023.

✓Reserves attested monthly by an independent firm: Deloitte & Touche LLP
✓Reserves are cash, bank deposits and short-term Treasury bills
✓Issuer is licensed by a major regulator: EU (France – ACPR), US (New York, NYDFS), US (OCC)
✓Operating since 2018-09 (8 years)
✓No material depeg in the last 3 years (earlier: Depegged when Silicon Valley Bank collapsed (USD 3.3 billion of reserves stuck at SVB); recovered after the FDIC guaranteed deposits (2023-03, low of 0.87 USD))
iThe issuer can freeze wallet addresses (usually at the request of authorities).
iS&P Global Stablecoin Stability Assessment (2025-12): 2 on a 1–5 scale (strong). For reference only, not part of the risk tier.

Facts and sources

Issuer: Circle Internet Group (US; Circle Internet Financial LLC and Circle Mint France)
Launched: 2018-09
Reserves: Cash and short-term Treasury bills07/2026 data: about 84% held in the Circle Reserve Fund (USDXX, managed by BlackRock, custodied at BNY Mellon), consisting of overnight repo backed by Treasury bonds and Treasury bills under 3 months; about 16% is deposits at major banks.
Reserve attestation: Monthly · latest 2026-07 · Deloitte & Touche LLPMonthly attestations under AICPA standards. Circle's financial statements (listed on NYSE: CRCL) are independently audited.[circle.com]
Licences / registrations: EU (France – ACPR) · Electronic money institution (EMI), issuing EMTs under MiCA (licence)Granted to Circle Mint France from 01/07/2024.[circle.com]
US (New York, NYDFS) · BitLicense and Money Transmitter License (licence)[circle.com]
US (OCC) · National trust bank (First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A.) (licence)Final OCC approval on 10/07/2026; scope covers custody and management of USDC reserves.[circle.com]
Depeg history: 2023-03 · Depegged when Silicon Valley Bank collapsed (USD 3.3 billion of reserves stuck at SVB); recovered after the FDIC guaranteed deposits · low of 0.87 USD · about 2 days · recovered[cnbc.com]
Wallet freezing: Yes: the issuer can freeze addresses

World Liberty Financial USD

Last reviewed 25/09/2026

B· Medium risk · meets 2/5 criteria

Backed by cash and US Treasury bills, held in custody at BitGo, with monthly attestations. It is a new coin (2025), supply is very highly concentrated on Binance, there are political factors, and its OCC licence is only at the preliminary stage.

!Reserves published monthly, but no independent attesting firm is named
✓Reserves are cash, bank deposits and short-term Treasury bills
!Issuer has no licence from a major regulator (EU MiCA, New York, Singapore…)
!Operating since 2025-03, under 3 years
✓Never below 0.97 USD for more than a day
iThe issuer can freeze wallet addresses (usually at the request of authorities).
iThe current issuer is BitGo Trust Company, which holds a South Dakota state trust company licence. This state licence does not count as a licence from a major regulator.
iLinked to President Trump's family: a related entity owns about 38% of World Liberty; Democratic lawmakers raised conflict-of-interest concerns when the OCC gave preliminary approval.
iHighly concentrated: Forbes (02/2026) estimates Binance (exchange and user wallets) holds about 87% of USD1 supply.
iLegal dispute with Justin Sun (suits and countersuits in California and Florida) awaiting trial.

Facts and sources

Issuer: World Liberty Financial (US); issued and held in custody by BitGo Trust Company (South Dakota)
Launched: 2025-03
Reserves: Cash and short-term Treasury billsAs of 31/07/2026: about 3.997 billion tokens in circulation, backed by about USD 4.001 billion in cash, US Treasury bills and government money market funds, held in custody at BitGo Trust.
Reserve attestation: Monthly · latest 2026-07Monthly attestations with proof-of-reserves via Chainlink, but the name of the attesting firm could not be verified; in 2025 there was a period of delayed reports.[bitgo.com]
Licences / registrations: US (OCC) · National trust bank World Liberty Trust Company, N.A. (in-principle approval)The OCC granted conditional preliminary approval on 14/08/2026; not yet authorised to operate.[occ.gov]
Depeg history: Never recorded below 0.98 USD
Wallet freezing: Yes: the issuer can freeze addresses
Notes: The current issuer is BitGo Trust Company, which holds a South Dakota state trust company licence. This state licence does not count as a licence from a major regulator.[dwt.com]
2026-08 · Linked to President Trump's family: a related entity owns about 38% of World Liberty; Democratic lawmakers raised conflict-of-interest concerns when the OCC gave preliminary approval.[bankingdive.com]
2026-02 · Highly concentrated: Forbes (02/2026) estimates Binance (exchange and user wallets) holds about 87% of USD1 supply.[forbes.com]
2026-05 · Legal dispute with Justin Sun (suits and countersuits in California and Florida) awaiting trial.[coindesk.com]

Euro Coin

Last reviewed 27/09/2026

A· Lower risk · meets 5/5 criteria

Circle's euro-pegged stablecoin, with reserves entirely held as deposits at regulated financial institutions and attested monthly by Deloitte; the issuer is a crypto-asset institution licensed in France under MiCA. It remains small in scale, at around EUR 400 million.

✓Reserves attested monthly by an independent firm: Deloitte & Touche LLP
✓Reserves are cash, bank deposits and short-term Treasury bills
✓Issuer is licensed by a major regulator: EU (France, ACPR)
✓Operating since 2022-06 (4 years)
✓Never below 0.97 USD for more than a day
iThe issuer can freeze wallet addresses (usually at the request of authorities).
iEURC is pegged to the euro, not the USD: its USD price moves with the EUR/USD exchange rate. For depositors converting to USD or VND, exchange-rate risk is the main risk.
iCirculation exceeded EUR 400 million (17/8/2026); it is the largest euro stablecoin but has much lower liquidity than USDC.

Facts and sources

Issuer: Circle Internet Financial Europe SAS (France), part of Circle Internet Group; Circle's 7/2024 MiCA announcement referred to this entity as Circle Mint France.
Launched: 2022-06
Reserves: Cash and short-term Treasury billsAs of 31/7/2026: EUR 400.11 million in reserves versus EUR 397.36 million EURC in circulation, all held as deposits at regulated financial institutions in accounts segregated from Circle's funds.
Reserve attestation: Monthly · latest 2026-07 · Deloitte & Touche LLPExamination report under AICPA standards, published monthly on Circle's Transparency page.[6778953.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net]
Licences / registrations: EU (France, ACPR) · Electronic money institution (EMI), issuing EMTs under MiCA (licence)Licensed on 1/7/2024, the date MiCA's stablecoin rules took effect; applies to both USDC and EURC.[circle.com]
Depeg history: Never recorded below 0.98 USD
Wallet freezing: Yes: the issuer can freeze addresses
Notes: EURC is pegged to the euro, not the USD: its USD price moves with the EUR/USD exchange rate. For depositors converting to USD or VND, exchange-rate risk is the main risk.[circle.com]
2026-08 · Circulation exceeded EUR 400 million (17/8/2026); it is the largest euro stablecoin but has much lower liquidity than USDC.[circle.com]

First Digital USD

Last reviewed 25/09/2026

B· Medium risk · meets 3/5 criteria

Backed by cash and US Treasury bills with monthly attestations, but the issuer is based in the BVI and has no stablecoin licence. Its size has shrunk sharply and it depegged to about USD 0.87 in 2025.

✓Reserves attested monthly by an independent firm: Prescient Assurance
✓Reserves are cash, bank deposits and short-term Treasury bills
!Issuer has no licence from a major regulator (EU MiCA, New York, Singapore…)
✓Operating since 2023-06 (3 years)
!Fell below 0.97 USD for over a day in the last 3 years: Depegged after Justin Sun alleged First Digital Trust was insolvent in connection with TUSD reserves (2025-04, low of 0.87 USD)
iThe issuer can freeze wallet addresses (usually at the request of authorities).
iThe issuer has no stablecoin issuance licence: it is not on the HKMA register, and issuance moved to the BVI from 08/2025. First Digital Trust is only a licensed trust company in Hong Kong.
iThe TUSD / Aria dispute (about USD 456 million) is still before the courts in Dubai and Hong Kong; First Digital Trust denies the allegations. The dispute is not directly related to FDUSD reserves.
iLiquidity depends mainly on Binance.
iS&P Global Stablecoin Stability Assessment (2025-11): 4 on a 1–5 scale (constrained). For reference only, not part of the risk tier.

Facts and sources

Issuer: FD121 (BVI) Limited, part of First Digital Labs (BVI; custody by First Digital Trust, Hong Kong)
Launched: 2023-06
Reserves: Cash and short-term Treasury billsPer the 01/2026 report: USD 457.9 million in reserves against 456.1 million tokens in circulation, consisting of short-term US Treasury bills, overnight repo and cash, held in segregated custody at First Digital Trust (Hong Kong).
Reserve attestation: Monthly · latest 2026-07 · Prescient AssuranceSupply has fallen sharply to about 350 million (08/2026) from a peak of several billion in 2025.[firstdigitallabs.com]
Licences / registrations: None from a major regulator
Depeg history: 2025-04 · Depegged after Justin Sun alleged First Digital Trust was insolvent in connection with TUSD reserves · low of 0.87 USD · recovered[theblock.co]
Wallet freezing: Yes: the issuer can freeze addresses
Notes: 2025-08 · The issuer has no stablecoin issuance licence: it is not on the HKMA register, and issuance moved to the BVI from 08/2025. First Digital Trust is only a licensed trust company in Hong Kong.[hkma.gov.hk]
2026-03 · The TUSD / Aria dispute (about USD 456 million) is still before the courts in Dubai and Hong Kong; First Digital Trust denies the allegations. The dispute is not directly related to FDUSD reserves.[cryptotimes.io]
Liquidity depends mainly on Binance.[firstdigitallabs.com]

Dai / USDS

Last reviewed 25/09/2026

B· Medium risk · meets 3/5 criteria

A decentralised stablecoin with no licensed issuer that cannot be frozen, overcollateralised by crypto, USDC and real-world assets. Being gradually replaced by USDS; it depegged to USD 0.88 along with USDC in 2023.

✓Collateral is public and anyone can verify it on the blockchain
!Reserves include over-collateralized crypto assets on the blockchain
!Issuer has no licence from a major regulator (EU MiCA, New York, Singapore…)
✓Operating since 2017-12 (8 years)
✓No material depeg in the last 3 years (earlier: Depegged along with USDC during the SVB collapse due to the large share of USDC in its collateral (2023-03, low of 0.88 USD))
iDAI is being converted 1:1 into USDS (launched 09/2024), now Sky's main stablecoin; some exchanges have dropped DAI support on some networks. USDS has upgradeable contracts, so governance could add a freeze function; DAI is immutable.
iIndirect dependence on USDC (about 35% via the PSM) and smart contract / governance risk.
iS&P Global Stablecoin Stability Assessment (2025-12): 4 on a 1–5 scale (constrained). For reference only, not part of the risk tier.

Facts and sources

Issuer: Sky Protocol (formerly MakerDAO), a DeFi protocol governed by SKY/MKR holders
Launched: 2017-12
Reserves: Over-collateralized cryptoQ1/2026: about 40% real-world assets (mainly US Treasury bills), about 35% USDC via the PSM module, the rest ETH/stETH and other crypto.
Reserve attestation: Public on the blockchainCollateral is verifiable on-chain; the real-world asset and USDC portions depend on third parties.[insights.skyeco.com]
Licences / registrations: None from a major regulator
Depeg history: 2023-03 · Depegged along with USDC during the SVB collapse due to the large share of USDC in its collateral · low of 0.88 USD · about 2 days · recovered[coindesk.com]
Wallet freezing: No
Notes: 2026-08 · DAI is being converted 1:1 into USDS (launched 09/2024), now Sky's main stablecoin; some exchanges have dropped DAI support on some networks. USDS has upgradeable contracts, so governance could add a freeze function; DAI is immutable.[dlnews.com]
Indirect dependence on USDC (about 35% via the PSM) and smart contract / governance risk.[ark-invest.com]

Ethena USDe

Last reviewed 27/09/2026

B· Medium risk · meets 2/5 criteria

Ethena's USDe is a synthetic dollar: backed by hedged crypto derivatives, stablecoins, and loans rather than cash. It has no licence; BaFin required Ethena to withdraw from the EU in 2025. It once fell to USD 0.65 on Binance (10/2025).

✓Reserves attested monthly by an independent firm: Harris & Trotter
!Reserves include hedged derivative positions (synthetic stablecoin)
!Issuer has no licence from a major regulator (EU MiCA, New York, Singapore…)
!Operating since 2024-02, under 3 years
✓Never below 0.97 USD for more than a day
iEU: BaFin stated that trading USDe on the secondary market is no longer permitted in the EU; USDe has no MiCA licence.
iUSDe itself has no freezing function, but Ethena can freeze sUSDe held by restricted addresses and transfer that sUSDe balance to another address.
iDepends on off-exchange custodians and centralized exchanges for hedging: counterparty risk, prolonged negative funding, and thin secondary liquidity; circulation is around USD 4.9 billion (9/2026).

Facts and sources

Issuer: Ethena (BVI) Limited (British Virgin Islands), part of Ethena Labs.
Launched: 2024-02
Reserves: Synthetic (hedged derivatives)Backed by BTC, ETH, and stablecoins together with short derivatives positions (delta-neutral), held off-exchange with Copper, Ceffu, and Coinbase wallets. From 4/2026, most shifted to stablecoins and collateralized institutional loans, with derivatives positions only around 11%; in 9/2026, tokenized equities (bStocks) on Binance were added. Circulation was around USD 4.9 billion (25/9/2026).
Reserve attestation: Monthly · Harris & TrotterWeekly proof of reserves since 4/2025 provided by independent parties (Chaos Labs, LlamaRisk, Chainlink, Harris & Trotter), along with monthly custodian attestations. This is an asset attestation, not a financial-statement audit; the reserve fund is not counted as backing assets.[crypto.news]
Licences / registrations: None from a major regulator
Depeg history: 2026-09 · It fell rapidly on Binance's USDE/USDT pair due to large sell orders in a thin order book, recovering to USD 0.9996 within minutes. · low of 0.92 USD · about 1 h · recovered[kucoin.com]
2025-10 · Only on Binance's order book during the 10/10 liquidation event (around 21:36 to 22:15 UTC); the on-chain deviation was below 1%, mint/redeem remained operational, and Binance compensated users. · low of 0.65 USD · about 1 h · recovered[coingecko.com]
Wallet freezing: No
Notes: 2025-04 · EU: BaFin stated that trading USDe on the secondary market is no longer permitted in the EU; USDe has no MiCA licence.[bafin.de]
USDe itself has no freezing function, but Ethena can freeze sUSDe held by restricted addresses and transfer that sUSDe balance to another address.[docs.ethena.fi]
Depends on off-exchange custodians and centralized exchanges for hedging: counterparty risk, prolonged negative funding, and thin secondary liquidity; circulation is around USD 4.9 billion (9/2026).[theblock.co]

Other coins

Bitcoin

Last reviewed 25/09/2026

A· Lower risk · meets 4/4 criteria

The oldest and largest digital asset, with no organisation controlling supply. Only two serious consensus incidents, in 2010 and 2013.

✓Network live since 2009-01 (17 years)
✓Market cap in the top 10: rank 1 (2026-09)
✓No organisation controls the supply or can freeze funds
✓No network halt in the last 2 years (2 before that)
iInterest is paid in this coin: its USD value moves with the coin price. The risk tier does not reflect price risk.

Facts and sources

Network live since: 2009-01 · Proof of Work
Market-cap rank: Rank 1 (2026-09)
Concentration: Decentralized
Network halts: 2013-03 · Chain split between versions 0.8 and 0.7 (BIP 50), requiring a 24-block reorg[github.com]
2010-08 · A value overflow bug (block 74638) created 184 billion BTC; a soft fork fixed it and the correct chain overtook after about 19 hours · about 19 h[en.bitcoin.it]
Regulatory history: 2024-01 · SEC (US): Approved 11 spot bitcoin ETPs.[sec.gov]
2026-03 · SEC & CFTC (US): Joint guidance classifies BTC as a digital commodity, not a security.[sec.gov]

Ethereum

Last reviewed 25/09/2026

A· Lower risk · meets 4/4 criteria

The largest smart contract platform, with decentralised supply. The network has never stopped producing blocks.

✓Network live since 2015-07 (11 years)
✓Market cap in the top 10: rank 2 (2026-09)
✓No organisation controls the supply or can freeze funds
✓The network has never halted
iInterest is paid in this coin: its USD value moves with the coin price. The risk tier does not reflect price risk.
iStaking: Validators can be slashed for double signing and penalised when offline; unstaking goes through a queue, so it can take several days or longer when the network is congested.
iIn May 2023 the network twice lost finality, for about 25 minutes and over 1 hour, due to client bugs; blocks were still produced, so it does not count as a halt.

Facts and sources

Network live since: 2015-07 · Proof of Stake
Market-cap rank: Rank 2 (2026-09)
Concentration: Decentralized
Network halts: None recorded
Staking: Validators can be slashed for double signing and penalised when offline; unstaking goes through a queue, so it can take several days or longer when the network is congested.
Regulatory history: 2024-05 · SEC (US): Approved 8 spot ether ETFs, trading from 23/07/2024.[coindesk.com]
2025-05 · SEC (US): Stated that protocol staking is not an investment contract.[sec.gov]
2026-03 · SEC & CFTC (US): ETH is classified as a digital commodity.[sec.gov]
Notes: 2023-05 · In May 2023 the network twice lost finality, for about 25 minutes and over 1 hour, due to client bugs; blocks were still produced, so it does not count as a halt.[coindesk.com]

BNB

Last reviewed 25/09/2026

B· Medium risk · meets 3/4 criteria

Closely tied to Binance: supply is highly concentrated in CZ and Binance, and the BSC network was deliberately halted in 2022. The SEC lawsuit was dropped in 2025.

✓Network live since 2019-04 (7 years)
✓Market cap in the top 10: rank 4 (2026-09)
!Supply or control is concentrated in one organisation: According to Forbes estimates (06/2024), CZ holds about 64% of circulating supply, and Binance and CZ together about 71%; Binance also runs the BNB burn mechanism.
✓No network halt in the last 2 years (1 before that)
iInterest is paid in this coin: its USD value moves with the coin price. The risk tier does not reflect price risk.
iStaking: BNB Smart Chain has a small validator set; exchange BNB Earn products usually depend on Binance rather than protocol staking.

Facts and sources

Network live since: 2019-04 · Proof of Stake
Market-cap rank: Rank 4 (2026-09)
Concentration: Concentrated in one organisationAccording to Forbes estimates (06/2024), CZ holds about 64% of circulating supply, and Binance and CZ together about 71%; Binance also runs the BNB burn mechanism.
Network halts: 2022-10 · Validators halted BNB Smart Chain after the BSC Token Hub bridge exploit (2 million BNB minted illicitly, about USD 566 million)[theblock.co]
Staking: BNB Smart Chain has a small validator set; exchange BNB Earn products usually depend on Binance rather than protocol staking.
Regulatory history: 2023-11 · DOJ / FinCEN / OFAC (US): Binance pleaded guilty to violating anti-money laundering and sanctions laws and paid a USD 4.32 billion penalty (the case targeted the exchange, not the BNB token).[cnbc.com]
2025-05 · SEC (US): Dismissed the 2023 civil lawsuit against Binance and CZ with prejudice; the suit had alleged that BNB was offered as a security.[sec.gov]

Solana

Last reviewed 25/09/2026

A· Lower risk · meets 4/4 criteria

Large ecosystem, with ETFs in the US. The network has halted 7 times, most recently in February 2024; validators remain concentrated in infrastructure.

✓Network live since 2020-03 (6 years)
✓Market cap in the top 10: rank 7 (2026-09)
✓No organisation controls the supply or can freeze funds
✓No network halt in the last 2 years (7 before that)
iInterest is paid in this coin: its USD value moves with the coin price. The risk tier does not reflect price risk.
iStaking: Stake deactivation happens per epoch (about 2–3 days); the main risks are underperforming validators or network halts.
iIn August 2026 an incident at a data centre provider took about 28.8% of stake offline for 33 minutes, close to the 33.3% threshold at which the network loses finality; validators remain concentrated in infrastructure.

Facts and sources

Network live since: 2020-03 · Proof of Stake
Market-cap rank: Rank 7 (2026-09)
Concentration: Decentralized
Network halts: 2024-02 · Legacy loader JIT cache bug · about 5 h[helius.dev]
2023-02 · An oversized block overloaded Turbine, requiring a cluster restart · about 19 h[helius.dev]
2022-09 · Fork choice bug after a backup validator produced duplicate blocks · about 8.5 h[helius.dev]
2022-06 · Durable nonce bug · about 4.5 h[helius.dev]
2022-04 · NFT minting bots exhausted validator memory · about 8 h[helius.dev]
2021-09 · Bots spammed transactions during the Grape Protocol IDO · about 17 h[helius.dev]
2020-12 · Block propagation bug (Turbine) · about 6 h[helius.dev]
Staking: Stake deactivation happens per epoch (about 2–3 days); the main risks are underperforming validators or network halts.
Regulatory history: 2025-10 · SEC (US): A spot SOL ETP with staking (Bitwise BSOL) began trading on the NYSE.[bitwiseinvestments.com]
2026-03 · SEC & CFTC (US): SOL is classified as a digital commodity.[sec.gov]
Notes: 2026-08 · In August 2026 an incident at a data centre provider took about 28.8% of stake offline for 33 minutes, close to the 33.3% threshold at which the network loses finality; validators remain concentrated in infrastructure.[finance.yahoo.com]

XRP

Last reviewed 25/09/2026

B· Medium risk · meets 2/4 criteria

Closed its dispute with the SEC in 2025 and has ETFs in the US, but Ripple still controls about 1/3 of supply. XRP Ledger had two brief halts in late 2024 and early 2025.

✓Network live since 2012-06 (14 years)
✓Market cap in the top 10: rank 5 (2026-09)
!Supply or control is concentrated in one organisation: Ripple holds about 31–35 billion XRP in escrow, about 1/3 of the total supply of 100 billion (09/2026); 1 billion XRP is unlocked each month and 60–80% is usually relocked.
!The network halted in the last 2 years: XRP Ledger halted for about 10 minutes as many nodes failed and restarted at the same time (2024-11); XRP Ledger stopped validating ledgers for about 64 minutes (2025-02)
iInterest is paid in this coin: its USD value moves with the coin price. The risk tier does not reflect price risk.
iStaking: XRP has no native staking; XRP Earn yield usually comes from lending or platform activity, so it carries counterparty risk.

Facts and sources

Network live since: 2012-06 · Other
Market-cap rank: Rank 5 (2026-09)
Concentration: Concentrated in one organisationRipple holds about 31–35 billion XRP in escrow, about 1/3 of the total supply of 100 billion (09/2026); 1 billion XRP is unlocked each month and 60–80% is usually relocked.
Network halts: 2025-02 · XRP Ledger stopped validating ledgers for about 64 minutes · about 1.1 h[decrypt.co]
2024-11 · XRP Ledger halted for about 10 minutes as many nodes failed and restarted at the same time · about 12 min[cryptoslate.com]
Staking: XRP has no native staking; XRP Earn yield usually comes from lending or platform activity, so it carries counterparty risk.
Regulatory history: 2023-07 · SDNY court (US): XRP sold to institutional investors is a security; XRP sold on public exchanges is not.[coincub.com]
2025-08 · SEC (US): Both sides dropped their appeals and the case closed; Ripple paid a penalty of about USD 125 million.[news.bloomberglaw.com]
2026-03 · SEC & CFTC (US): XRP is classified as a digital commodity.[sec.gov]

TRX

Last reviewed 25/09/2026

B· Medium risk · meets 3/4 criteria

The largest network for USDT circulation, but power is highly concentrated: Justin Sun is believed to hold most of the supply and only 27 validators produce blocks.

✓Network live since 2018-05 (8 years)
✓Market cap in the top 10: rank 8 (2026-09)
!Supply or control is concentrated in one organisation: His Bloomberg Billionaires profile (02/2025, figures provided by Justin Sun's side) says he holds over 60 billion TRX, i.e. most of the supply; only 27 Super Representatives produce blocks.
✓No network halt in the last 2 years (1 before that)
iInterest is paid in this coin: its USD value moves with the coin price. The risk tier does not reflect price risk.
iStaking: DPoS with 27 Super Representatives; unstaking requires waiting about 14 days.
iA settlement between the SEC and Justin Sun was proposed in March 2026, but court approval could not be confirmed.

Facts and sources

Network live since: 2018-05 · Proof of Stake
Market-cap rank: Rank 8 (2026-09)
Concentration: Concentrated in one organisationHis Bloomberg Billionaires profile (02/2025, figures provided by Justin Sun's side) says he holds over 60 billion TRX, i.e. most of the supply; only 27 Super Representatives produce blocks.
Network halts: 2020-11 · Super Representatives stopped producing blocks for about 3.4 hours to block a malicious contract during the v4.1 upgrade · about 3.4 h[cryptobriefing.com]
Staking: DPoS with 27 Super Representatives; unstaking requires waiting about 14 days.
Regulatory history: 2023-03 · SEC (US): Sued Justin Sun and the Tron Foundation for offering TRX as an unregistered security and for wash trading.[coindesk.com]
2026-03 · SEC (US): Proposed settlement: Rainberry pays a USD 10 million penalty and the remaining charges are dismissed.[sec.gov]
Notes: 2026-03 · A settlement between the SEC and Justin Sun was proposed in March 2026, but court approval could not be confirmed.[decrypt.co]

Dogecoin

Last reviewed 27/09/2026

B· Medium risk · meets 3/4 criteria

Long-standing meme coin (since 12/2013), using merged PoW mining with Litecoin, with no network outages to date. Supply is uncapped (around 5 billion DOGE per year) and market capitalization currently ranks 12th.

✓Network live since 2013-12 (12 years)
!Market cap outside the top 10: rank 12 (2026-09)
✓No organisation controls the supply or can freeze funds
✓The network has never halted
iInterest is paid in this coin: its USD value moves with the coin price. The risk tier does not reflect price risk.
iNo total supply cap: fixed issuance of around 5 billion DOGE per year, with a declining inflation rate (around 3.6% in 2024).
iMerged mining (AuxPoW) with Litecoin since 2014 to increase hashrate; network security depends on Litecoin's Scrypt miners.
iThe "DogeReaper" vulnerability crashed around 69% of nodes (from 647 to 315) on 12/12/2024; there is no record of the network stopping block production.
iThe Qubic community (which previously carried out a 51% attack on Monero) voted to target DOGE; no attack has been confirmed to have occurred.

Facts and sources

Network live since: 2013-12 · Proof of Work
Market-cap rank: Rank 12 (2026-09)
Concentration: Decentralized
Network halts: None recorded
Regulatory history: 2025-02 · SEC (US): The Division of Corporation Finance stated that transactions in meme coins (of the described type) are not securities offerings; it did not name DOGE and is not binding on the Commission.[sec.gov]
2025-11 · NYSE Arca (United States): The Grayscale spot DOGE ETF (GDOG) began trading on 24/11/2025, with custody provided by Coinbase Custody.[bravenewcoin.com]
Notes: No total supply cap: fixed issuance of around 5 billion DOGE per year, with a declining inflation rate (around 3.6% in 2024).[okx.com]
2014-08 · Merged mining (AuxPoW) with Litecoin since 2014 to increase hashrate; network security depends on Litecoin's Scrypt miners.[coindesk.com]
2024-12 · The "DogeReaper" vulnerability crashed around 69% of nodes (from 647 to 315) on 12/12/2024; there is no record of the network stopping block production.[financemagnates.com]
2025-08 · The Qubic community (which previously carried out a 51% attack on Monero) voted to target DOGE; no attack has been confirmed to have occurred.[coindesk.com]