First Digital USD at a glance: 6.25/10 in July 2026
First Digital USD is a stablecoin issued by First Digital Trust, pegged to the US dollar via fiat + treasuries. On our six-criterion composite for stablecoins, it ranks below USD Coin (USDC) and USDS (Sky) while sitting above Frax and TrueUSD (TUSD) in our current composite.
Stablecoin scoring weights collateral quality, transparency, and depeg history heavily — combined they represent 55% of the composite. For any stablecoin holding meaningful capital, these are the questions that determine tail risk.
Transparency and audit posture
Monthly attestations by Prescient Assurance. Reserves held at Hong Kong regulated custodians. Less established than USDC but more transparent than USDT.
Transparency is the single strongest predictor of stablecoin trust. Public quarterly audits by Big Four accounting firms (or better, full SEC filings from publicly-listed issuers) rank highest. Attestations are lower-tier but still meaningful. Opaque or infrequent disclosure is a persistent risk flag.
Regulatory posture
Hong Kong regulated. Not US or EU registered. Limited jurisdictional coverage.
Regulatory registration matters both for user access (can you legally hold this stablecoin in your jurisdiction?) and for issuer resilience (can the issuer survive a hostile regulatory action?). MiCA compliance is the current baseline for EU access; NYDFS oversight is the strongest US signal.
Collateral quality
Cash and short-duration US Treasuries per attestations. High-quality collateral, though shorter operational history than USDC.
Collateral composition determines what happens if the issuer needs to redeem all stablecoins at once. Pure cash + short-duration US Treasuries is highest-quality — instantly liquid, minimal duration risk. Commercial paper, secured loans, or crypto-backed collateral carry additional risk that only matters until it does.
Peg stability history
Launched 2023, no depeg events. Clean operational record but short history.
Depeg events are the most-visible stablecoin failure mode. A stablecoin that has held peg through multiple stress events (Terra collapse 2022, SVB crisis 2023) has meaningfully demonstrated its design vs one that has not been stress-tested.
Supply scale and adoption
Circulating supply of $346.31M — small stablecoin; limited liquidity and exchange coverage. Top-10 stablecoin — supported on most major exchanges but not always available as primary pair.
Larger supply usually correlates with better acceptance across trading venues and DeFi protocols. But it also concentrates issuer risk — a failure of a top-3 stablecoin would create systemic pressure across all of crypto.
Who First Digital USD is for — and who should look elsewhere
Best fit: Users seeking a middle-ground between purely-fiat-backed stablecoins and higher-yield alternatives.
Look elsewhere if: First Digital USD is less suitable for users whose primary priority is supply or regulation.
Direct alternatives worth comparing: USD Coin (USDC) and USDS (Sky) score higher on our composite. See Best Stablecoins.
