On December 12, 2023, Standard & Poors (S&P) Global Ratings released a stablecoin stability assessment, analyzing a variety of factors to rank the ability of eight major stablecoins to maintain a stable value relative to a fiat currency ranging from 1 (very strong) to 5 (weak). Stablecoins are designed to maintain a stable value and, absent depegging, they do not demonstrate the same volatility as other cryptocurrencies.

Depegging occurs when the value of a stablecoin deviates from its pegged value. This can lead to individual investment and trading losses, and poses systemic market risks. The assessment is designed to provide transparency of stablecoin stability and insight into their depegging risks.

First, asset-quality risks are assessed, as well as the degree to which overcollateralization requirements and liquidation mechanisms may mitigate these risks. These factors are given an asset assessment score.

The asset-quality risk assessment includes analyzing the stablecoin's:

Following the asset assessment, five additional factors are analyzed:

The analysis of these five factors is added to the holistic risk-assessment view, which can result in a stability assessment score lower than the asset assessment score.

The stablecoins were assessed as follows: