A pile of one dollar bills lying on top of each other

Analysis · Stablecoins

USDC vs USDT, compared on issuer, reserves, audits, freezes and US law

Published 2026-10-14By the CryptoGuardz Register Desk6 min read18 sources

Photo: Lukasz Radziejewski / Unsplash

In short, from the documents

USDC vs USDT: issuers, reserves and freezes

USDT is issued by Tether International, S.A. de C.V. in El Salvador and reports quarterly attestations; USDC is issued by Circle and reports monthly. Tether reported $184.6 billion of USDT at 30 June 2026, Circle $72.7 billion of USDC on 12 October 2026. Both can block addresses.

Piece published 2026-10-14Reviewed by CryptoGuardz Register Desk, editorial desk

USDT and USDC are both dollar tokens, issued by different companies under different law. Tether reported about $184.6 billion of USDT issued at 30 June 2026; Circle reported $72.7 billion of USDC in circulation on 12 October 2026. USDT runs on 13 chains per Tether, USDC on 38 per Circle, and both issuers' terms let them block addresses.

The comparison below was read from each issuer's own terms, transparency pages and press releases on 14 October 2026, plus the text of the GENIUS Act. It describes the documents. It is not a view on which token to hold.

USDC vs USDT at a glance

Point	USDT	USDC
Issuer named in terms	Tether International, S.A. de C.V.	Circle Internet Financial, LLC
Seat	El Salvador	United States
Supply reported	about $184.6 billion, 30 June 2026	$72.7 billion, 12 October 2026
Reserve report	Quarterly attestation, BDO	Monthly assurance, unnamed Big Four firm
Financial statement audit	KPMG, year to 31 Dec 2025	Deloitte, since fiscal 2022
Chains per issuer	13	38
Freeze power	Terms section 2	Terms, Blocklisting
Direct redemption	Verified customers, 100,000 USD minimum	Circle Mint account holders

The supply dates differ because the issuers publish on different cycles. The Tether figure is the quarter-end attestation; Circle's page updates weekly.

Who issues USDT and USDC?

Tether's terms, last updated 26 February 2026, are an agreement with "Tether International, S.A. de C.V. (formerly Tether International Limited)", which they say has redomiciled from the British Virgin Islands to El Salvador. Circle's USDC terms say USDC "is a digital token issued by Circle Internet Financial, LLC", and that Circle Internet Financial Europe SAS became a second issuer from 1 July 2024.

Neither issuer sells to retail directly. Tether's fee page sets a 100,000 USD minimum for issuance or redemption and a 150 USD verification fee. Circle's terms say a user "may not redeem USDC with Circle unless and until you open a Circle Mint account." Everyone else buys and sells through an exchange, which carries its own terms and fees; the USDT explainer covers the Tether side in more depth.

What backs USDT and USDC?

Tether's Q2 2026 attestation, published 31 July 2026, states:

The Company’s total assets amount to US$ 187,751,426,411

Tether news release, Q2 2026 attestation, retrieved 2026-10-14

Liabilities were US$183,641,897,215, leaving assets above liabilities by US$4,109,529,196. The same release reports gold holdings of more than 146 tons. Tether's live data feed, read on 14 October 2026, shows total assets of $189.6 billion against liabilities of $184.2 billion but gives no as-of date, so the attestation figures are the ones with a signed report behind them.

Circle's transparency page, with reserves dated 12 October 2026, says most of the USDC reserve sits in the Circle Reserve Fund (USDXX), described as an "SEC-registered 2a-7 government money market fund" managed by BlackRock, with the remainder in bank deposits it does not name by bank.

The GENIUS Act lists eight kinds of permitted reserve asset in section 4(a)(1)(A): cash and Federal Reserve balances, bank deposits, Treasury bills, notes or bonds with 93 days or less to maturity, overnight repos and reverse repos, money market funds holding those, other approved federal assets and tokenized forms of them. Gold and bitcoin are not on the list.

Is USDT audited, or only attested?

Both now have both, on different terms. An attestation checks a point-in-time reserve report; an audit covers a full year of financial statements. Tether has published quarterly attestations by BDO and, on 13 August 2026, announced an audit by KPMG U.S. of its 2025 financial statements:

Tether’s audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 report reserves exceeding the liabilities by $6.814 billion

Tether news release, 13 August 2026, retrieved 2026-10-14

Stacks of paper files and folders piled on office shelves — Illustration only: stacks of files. An attestation and an audit are different reports with different scope, as the section explains. Photo: Wesley Tingey / Unsplash

The release describes the opinion as unqualified. The audit report itself is not reproduced in the release, so its scope is Tether's description: not verified against the report.

Circle's transparency page says reserve holdings are disclosed weekly and that a "Big Four accounting firm" provides monthly assurance under AICPA standards; the page does not name the firm. Circle's own financial statements have been audited by Deloitte & Touche LLP since fiscal 2022, per the same page. The September to December 2026 attestation links were still placeholders on 14 October.

Under GENIUS section 4(a)(3), a permitted issuer must have its monthly reserve report "examined by a registered public accounting firm" and its CEO and CFO must certify it each month.

Can Tether and Circle freeze your tokens?

Yes. Tether's terms, section 2, let it "freeze any Tether Tokens held by you, or terminate your Tether Token Wallet, as required by applicable Law or where Tether, in its sole discretion, determines it is prudent to do so". Circle's terms carry a Blocklisting clause:

Circle reserves the right to block the transfer of USDC to and from an address on chain as permitted under the blocklisting policy.

Circle USDC terms, retrieved 2026-10-14

The GENIUS Act makes the capability a condition. Section 2(16) defines a "lawful order" as one requiring a person "to seize, freeze, burn, or prevent the transfer of payment stablecoins", and section 3(b)(2) bars US platforms from offering a foreign issuer's stablecoin unless the issuer can and will comply with such orders. A frozen address is frozen on that chain whoever holds the key. Funds lost that way do not come back through a recovery service; the scam recovery page explains why.

Which law covers each token in the US?

The GENIUS Act, Public Law 119-27, was approved on 18 July 2025. Section 20 makes it effective 18 months after enactment or 120 days after final regulations, whichever is earlier. Section 3(b)(1) makes it unlawful, from 3 years after enactment, for a digital asset service provider to offer a payment stablecoin to a person in the US unless a permitted issuer issued it. Section 4(a)(11) bans issuers from paying holders "any form of interest or yield".

Tether's US answer is a separate token. Its 27 January 2026 release says USA₮ is issued by Anchorage Digital Bank, N.A., that "Tether Operations, S.A. de C.V. is not the issuer of USA₮", and that USD₮ is "progressing towards GENIUS Act compliance". No date for that is given.

Circle's transparency page names a New York money transmitter licence and does not mention GENIUS. On 10 July 2026 Circle announced final OCC approval for a national trust bank, which will at first offer custody to Circle and its affiliates; the release does not say it will issue USDC.

Where in Europe is USDT restricted?

Exchanges, not the EU, delisted it. Coinbase's help page lists USDT among non-MiCA stablecoins: buying, selling and converting are restricted for EEA users, and remaining balances will be converted on 30 October 2026. Kraken's EEA page lists USDT as delisted, with deposits and withdrawals only. USDC appears on neither list. Coinbase withdraws USDT on 4 networks and USDC on 15 per its currency API read on 14 October 2026; the Coinbase vs Kraken comparison and exchange register list the rest.

Quick answers

Is USDC safer than USDT?

The documents do not rank them. USDC reports monthly with an unnamed Big Four firm and USDT quarterly with BDO. Tether's 2025 accounts were audited by KPMG, Circle's by Deloitte, and both issuers can block addresses.

Which is bigger, USDT or USDC?

Tether reported about $184.6 billion of USDT at 30 June 2026. Circle reported $72.7 billion of USDC on 12 October 2026, per its USDC page.

Can I redeem USDT or USDC for dollars with the issuer?

Only with an issuer account. Tether's minimum is 100,000 USD with a fee of the greater of $1,000 or 0.1%; Circle requires a Circle Mint account. Other holders sell on an exchange; see how to buy USDT.

Does the GENIUS Act ban USDT in the US?

Not by name. From 3 years after 18 July 2025, US platforms may only offer stablecoins from permitted issuers, and Tether says USDT is working towards compliance.

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Sources

About this piece

Compiled by the CryptoGuardz register team from the sources listed above. Research and drafting are AI-assisted and reviewed by a named editor before publication. Nothing here is a recommendation to gamble. If a figure or a reading is wrong, tell us and the correction is logged in public.