Short answer: stablecoins are tokens built to stay at about $1. The ones you will meet most on swap services are USDT (Tether) and USDC (Circle), which are backed by dollars and short-term government debt held by a company, and DAI, which is backed by crypto locked in smart contracts. Each one lives on several blockchains at once, and the network you choose (Tron, Ethereum, Solana and others) decides your fee, the coin you need for gas and the address you can send to. Pick the wrong network and the deposit can be lost. Compared with Bitcoin and Monero, stablecoins give you price stability but add an issuer that can freeze tokens, and every transfer is public.
This guide is for people who swap. It covers the main stablecoins, how they work, which networks they run on and why that matters, and how they compare with the other coins people swap most on SwapRaven. Data from SwapRaven and from issuers is as of November 2026. This is general information, not financial advice. If you mainly want a strategy for moving in and out of stablecoins, read swapping into stablecoins next.
How stablecoins work
There are three designs:
- Fiat-backed (USDT, USDC). A company mints one token for each dollar it receives and holds reserves, mostly cash and short-term US Treasury bills. Verified customers can redeem tokens for dollars directly with the issuer. Everyone else trades them on exchanges and swap services, where arbitrage keeps the price near $1. Tether and Circle publish accounting-firm attestations of their reserves.
- Crypto-backed (DAI). Users lock more crypto than the DAI they create, and smart contracts sell the collateral if it loses too much value. The protocol behind DAI, once called Maker, now runs under the name Sky and also issues a newer token, USDS. DAI's collateral has at times included a lot of USDC.
- Algorithmic. These tried to hold $1 with code and a sister token instead of reserves. TerraUSD (UST), the biggest one, lost its peg in May 2022 and collapsed within days. Be wary of any new design that promises a stable price without real reserves.
In the United States, the GENIUS Act, signed on July 18, 2025, set federal rules for payment stablecoin issuers, including full reserves in liquid assets and monthly public reports on what the reserves hold. The EU regulates issuers under its MiCA rules. These rules affect issuers more than swappers, but they are one reason issuers cooperate closely with authorities on freezes.
Which stablecoins swap services support
Of the 125 services listed on SwapRaven, the coin lists we hold show USDT on 30 and USDC on 29. DAI appears on 16. Smaller dollar tokens such as TUSD, USDS, PYUSD (PayPal's dollar token), USDP, USDD, USDe, USD1 and FDUSD are each listed on 13 to 19 services. XAUT (Tether Gold), listed on 21, is not a dollar token at all: it tracks the price of gold. Coin lists are not complete for every service, and a service may support a token on one network but not another, so always check the deposit options on the swap form.
In practice, USDT and USDC have by far the deepest liquidity. If you want the most choice of services and the best rates, use one of those two.
Networks: why the chain matters
A stablecoin is not one coin on one network. Tether's own list of supported networks, checked in November 2026, includes Ethereum, Tron, Solana, TON, Avalanche, Aptos, Near, Tezos, Celo, Kaia, Polkadot Asset Hub, Kava and Liquid. Tether says it no longer issues or redeems USDT on several older chains, including the Omni Layer, EOS, Algorand, Kusama and Bitcoin Cash SLP. Its list does not include a USDT contract on BNB Smart Chain, so the USDT you see there is a bridged version, not one Tether issues directly. USDC is also issued on many chains, and the swap form will show which ones a service accepts.
The network decides three things:
- The fee and the gas coin. You pay the network fee in the chain's own coin, not in the stablecoin. USDT on Tron needs TRX, on Ethereum it needs ETH, and on Solana it needs SOL. A wallet holding only the token cannot send it. Fees on every chain rise and fall with demand, so compare them at the time you swap. See network fees on instant swaps.
- The address format. Tron addresses start with T, Solana addresses are base58 strings, and Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Arbitrum and other Ethereum-style chains all use addresses that start with 0x. Because those 0x addresses look the same on every one of those chains, the address will not warn you if you pick the wrong network.
- Whether the swap credits you. A service watches one specific network for your deposit. USDT sent on BNB Smart Chain to a deposit that expects USDT on Ethereum will not be credited automatically. Some services can recover a wrong-chain deposit for a fee, many cannot.
Common networks for stablecoin swaps:
| Network | Token type | Address looks like | Gas paid in | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tron | TRC-20 | Starts with T | TRX | Very common for USDT |
| Ethereum | ERC-20 | Starts with 0x | ETH | Widest support for USDT, USDC and DAI; fees rise when busy |
| Solana | SPL | Base58, no 0x | SOL | Fast; common for USDC |
| BNB Smart Chain | BEP-20 | Starts with 0x | BNB | USDT here is bridged, not issued by Tether |
| Arbitrum and other Ethereum layer 2s | ERC-20 | Starts with 0x | ETH on that layer 2 | Cheaper Ethereum-style transfers |
| TON | Jetton | TON address | TON | Supported by Tether; check the service lists it |
Before any swap: confirm the network on both sides, keep a little gas coin in the sending wallet, and double-check the address. Stablecoin users are also a favorite target of address poisoning, where a scammer sends a tiny transfer from a look-alike address so you copy the wrong one later.
Stablecoins vs Monero, Bitcoin and other popular coins
Here is how the main stablecoins compare with the coins that every service on SwapRaven handles (Bitcoin, Ethereum and Monero) and with Solana and Litecoin, which are each listed on 30 services.
| USDT / USDC | DAI | Bitcoin (BTC) | Monero (XMR) | Ethereum (ETH) | Solana (SOL) | Litecoin (LTC) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Aims for $1 | Aims for $1 | Market | Market | Market | Market | Market |
| Issuer | A company (Tether, Circle) | Smart contracts (Sky) | None | None | None | None | None |
| Can the issuer freeze it? | Yes | No freeze function in DAI itself | No | No | No | No | No |
| Amounts visible on chain | Yes | Yes | Yes | No, hidden by default | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Supply | Follows deposits | Follows collateral | Capped at 21 million | Tail emission, 0.6 XMR per block | No hard cap | No hard cap | Capped at 84 million |
| Own network? | No, a token on many chains | No, a token | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Network fee paid in | Host chain's coin | Host chain's coin | BTC | XMR | ETH | SOL | LTC |
| SwapRaven services listing it | 30 / 29 | 16 | 125 | 125 | 125 | 30 | 30 |
What the table means for a swap:
- Price stability. Only the stablecoins hold their value in dollars. Swapping into USDT or USDC is how people step out of price swings without a bank. Every other coin in the table moves with the market.
- Freeze risk. Tether and Circle can and do freeze tokens at an address, often after a request from authorities. Holding the keys does not protect you from that, because the freeze is in the token contract. Bitcoin, Monero, Ethereum, Solana and Litecoin have no issuer that can do this.
- Privacy. Stablecoin transfers are as public as Bitcoin transfers: the addresses, amount and time are on chain for anyone to read, and analytics firms label addresses. Monero hides the sender, receiver and amount by default. See Bitcoin vs Monero for privacy and KYC.
- Supply. Bitcoin has a fixed 21 million cap and no issuer. Stablecoins are created whenever someone deposits dollars, so their supply simply follows demand.
- Support. USDT and USDC are supported almost everywhere, including centralized exchanges and payment apps. That makes them a handy bridge between coins.
Swapping stablecoins on SwapRaven
Among services graded A on SwapRaven, SageSwap, CCE Cash, PegasusSwap and xChange.me list USDT and USDC alongside Monero and Bitcoin, and the aggregator Trocador compares quotes from many exchanges for the same pair. Each service page shows its grade, KYC policy, fees and uptime. Check the network options on the swap form before you send.
A few habits help:
- Use a fixed rate when the exact amount matters; see fixed vs floating rates.
- Add a refund address on the same network you are sending from.
- Send a small test amount first on a new route.
- Do not leave large balances in a stablecoin for long if a freeze would hurt you. Many people swap back into Bitcoin or Monero when they are done.
For more on each side of the comparison, Monerica explains stablecoins vs Monero for privacy, and Bitcoin Lando covers stablecoins vs Bitcoin on issuer risk and supply.
Frequently asked questions
Which network is cheapest for USDT?
It changes with network load, and the swap service may also charge its own network fee for the payout. Compare the final amount you receive on each network the service offers, not just the network fee.
What happens if I send USDT on the wrong network?
The swap will not see it as a valid deposit. Contact the service right away with the transaction ID. Some can recover it for a fee, but there is no guarantee, so check the network before every send.
Is USDT on Tron the same as USDT on Ethereum?
Both are issued by Tether and worth the same, but they are separate tokens on separate chains. A swap or an exchange moves you between them; a wallet cannot just send one to the other.
Can a stablecoin be private?
Not on public chains like Tron, Ethereum or Solana, where every transfer is visible. If you need privacy, swap the stablecoin into Monero.
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