Stablecoins are one of the core infrastructures of the crypto market and serve as the first gateway for users to enter the Web3 world. Whether it’s trading, lending, or participating in DeFi and RWA (Real World Assets), stablecoins are an indispensable part of the process. Currently, the most mainstream stablecoins in the market are USDT and USDC, while GUSD, as a newcomer, is gradually gaining attention due to its unique positioning. In the current context where RWA has become the focus of the industry, the respective advantages and disadvantages of GUSD, USDT, and USDC are worth in-depth analysis.
USDT: The largest market cap but with questioned transparency.
USDT is a stablecoin issued by Tether, with a market value exceeding 100 billion USD, making it the most widely circulated stablecoin in the crypto market. Its advantages include:
- Highly liquid, almost all exchanges and DeFi protocols support it.
- The use cases are diverse, covering everything from cross-border payments to derivatives trading.
However, the shortcomings of USDT are also very obvious. Although Tether claims that its asset reserves cover cash, bonds, and other financial instruments, the lack of auditing transparency has repeatedly raised questions from regulators and the market. For institutional investors seeking compliance and security guarantees, USDT is not the most ideal choice.
USDC: High transparency but subject to the policy environment
USDC is a stablecoin issued by Circle, which has received more attention from U.S. regulators. Its biggest advantages are compliance and transparency: reserve audit reports are released monthly, and the assets are primarily cash in USD and U.S. Treasury bonds.
As a result, USDC is widely adopted in DeFi and RWA projects, especially popular among institutions in the US market.
However, the weakness of USDC lies in its heavy reliance on the U.S. banking system. Once banks face liquidity issues or policy tightening, the stability of USDC may be affected. For example, the 2023 Silicon Valley Bank incident briefly unpegged USDC, exposing its reliance risk on a single system.
GUSD: A differentiated choice linked to RWA and returns
Unlike USDT and USDC, GUSD is not just a payment and settlement tool; it is more like a yield certificate combined with RWA.
Diverse sources of income
The annualized yield of GUSD comes from the income of the Gate ecosystem, government bonds RWA, and high-quality assets supported by stablecoins. Compared to USDT and USDC, which rely solely on reserve proofs, GUSD places more emphasis on returning real profits to users.
Principal protection wealth management characteristics
Users can mint GUSD through USDT or USDC to earn daily returns while having their principal protected. This makes GUSD not only a stablecoin but also a tool for liquid wealth management.
Flexibility and Collateral Functionality
GUSD supports subscription and redemption at any time, and can also be used as collateral for lending, helping users to release liquidity.
Returns refer to real-world interest rates.
Linked to tokenized US Treasury bonds and other RWA assets, allowing GUSD’s yield to dynamically reflect changes in the real financial market, making it more sustainable.
Comparison in the Era of RWA
- For those who pursue
liquidity For users, USDT is still the most convenient choice. - For those who value
Compliance and Transparency For users, USDC has more advantages. - For those who wish to gain on a stable basis
additional income For users, GUSD offers a new choice.
As RWA becomes the new narrative in the industry, the value of GUSD is becoming increasingly prominent. It not only meets users’ basic needs for stablecoins but also brings RWA returns on-chain, providing investors with robust returns.
Conclusion
USDT, USDC, and GUSD each represent different directions in the development of stablecoins. USDT emphasizes liquidity, USDC emphasizes compliance, while GUSD further innovates on this basis by incorporating RWA yields into the product, becoming a new model for stablecoins in the RWA era.
With the development of the crypto market, investors may no longer be satisfied with assets that are merely "stable", but rather lean toward tools that are "stable and yield-generating". From this perspective, GUSD may gain increasing favor from users and institutions in the future.
