S&P Global Ratings, a financial research and credit assessment company, said in a Tuesday press release that six of the 11 stablecoins it covers had an adequate or stronger ability to maintain their fiat pegs.
The press release didn't include any new assessment. The listed decisions were issued between November 2025 and February 2026, while the only two scores that changed during the past three quarters were lowered.
- Gemini USD fell from 2 (or strong), to 3 (which means adequate), after its reserves shifted entirely into bank deposits.
- And S&P cut Tether's USDT from 4 (or constrained) to 5 (the lowest mark also known as weak), citing increased exposure to higher-risk reserve assets.
- The other nine assessments were unchanged, meaning none received an upgrade.
Coin count hides USDT's size
Still, S&P's headline gives every stablecoin equal weight regardless of its circulation. USDT alone had about $184 billion outstanding and controls roughly 61% of the global stablecoin market, per data from market trackers. Circle's USDC, which S&P rated strong, followed with about $74 billion.
So while most of the assessed coins scored adequate or better by number, the largest share of stablecoin value remains concentrated in a token S&P considers weak.
S&P's stablecoin assessments measure the relative ability of a token to maintain its peg through redemptions and secondary-market trading. They also consider reserve quality, liquidity, governance, regulation and technology risks.
And unlike S&P's traditional credit ratings, the scores don't assess whether an issuer will repay a debt obligation.