Stablecoins: who holds the collateral and what happens when the peg breaks

A stablecoin is a token that promises to be exchangeable for a unit of fiat currency at a fixed rate, and what makes that promise hold is not the blockchain but whoever holds the collateral and answers for redemption. The code records only the bookkeeping: how many tokens exist and whose balance they sit on. The peg itself rests on the issuer's obligation to take the token back and pay out money for it — that is, on the composition of the reserves, on the legal claim and on the issuer's willingness to honour it. That is why the question "which stablecoin is safer" always comes down to the question "what exactly backs it, and what will I get if I want to exit".

The peg is an obligation, not a property of the token

The price of a stablecoin on an exchange is set the same way as the price of any other asset: by supply and demand. It stays flat only because an arbitrage mechanism is working alongside it. As long as a large participant can hand tokens to the issuer and collect money at par, any downward deviation in price becomes a profitable purchase, and the gap closes. As soon as redemption at par stops being available — suspended, restricted to a narrow circle of counterparties, or stuck behind illiquid collateral — the support disappears, and the token starts trading at whatever price participants consider fair for a claim of doubtful quality.

A practical consequence follows from this: direct access to redemption is usually available only to the issuer's institutional counterparties. A retail holder exits through an exchange, which means relying not on the issuer's obligation but on the fact that arbitrageurs with such access are still at work.

What can back the peg

The backing models differ in where the collateral sits and who can see it.

Fiat backing. The issuer holds cash and short-dated debt securities, most often government paper close to maturity, and issues tokens against that portfolio. The reserve logic here is almost the same as in a money market fund: the yield on the portfolio stays with the manager, while the holder is promised par. The structure of such a portfolio is easiest to compare against familiar instruments — how the government debt segment works and what drives funds. The key risk is not the exchange rate but the possibility that part of the reserve turns out to be less liquid or less sound than stated, and that this comes to light at the moment of a mass exit.

Backing by other crypto assets. The collateral sits in a smart contract and is publicly visible, but it is volatile in its own right, so it is posted in excess, and when its price falls, positions are forcibly liquidated. Transparency is higher here, but the risk of cascading liquidations during a sharp market move is added on top.

Algorithmic designs without full collateral. The peg is maintained by minting and burning a linked token whose price depends on confidence in the scheme itself. The historical record here is unambiguous: the collapse of Terra/UST in the spring of 2022 showed that under outflows such a design does not stabilise but accelerates its own downfall.

The depeg and why it is hard to reverse

A depeg is a deviation of the token's price from its stated peg. A technical deviation in a thin market is cured by arbitrage in a matter of hours. A substantive depeg is the result of doubts about the collateral, and it unfolds with the mechanics of a run: holders exit not because they are sure of insolvency, but because exiting later is worse than exiting earlier. For an issuer with a high-quality reserve this is a liquidity problem that works itself out; for an issuer with a hole in the reserve it is the end. From the outside, both situations look the same in the early hours, and that is exactly what makes a depeg dangerous: the decision has to be made without information.

The legal framework in Russia

Russian regulation does not recognise stablecoins as a means of payment. The framework is set by the law on digital financial assets (259-FZ, 2020), which introduced a separate category of DFAs with licensed issuance and exchange operators; foreign stablecoins do not fall into this category. Amendments passed in 2024 allowed digital currency to be used in settlements under foreign trade transactions within an experimental legal regime — this is a tool for participants in foreign trade, not for everyday payments. The tax consequences of selling digital currency are calculated under the general rules for income from property; the specific rate and the composition of the tax base should be checked against the current version of the Tax Code, not against a journal article — the site has no data on this segment, and inventing it here would be out of place.

What to check before keeping money in a stablecoin

• The composition of the reserve and who attests to it. An independent auditor's report on the composition of the assets carries more weight than a statement by the issuer on its website.
• Redemption terms. Who has access to exchange at par, within what time frame, at what minimum amounts, and whether the issuer can suspend it.
• The issuer's jurisdiction and the right to block. Most fiat-backed stablecoins technically allow an address to be frozen at the request of a regulator or a court.
• Where the token is held. A balance on an exchange is a claim on the exchange, not ownership of the asset; intermediary risk here takes precedence over the risk of the token itself.
• Why you need it. For settlements and for moving value between platforms, a stablecoin does the job; for holding savings, it adds the issuer's credit risk on top of currency risk.

The terminology used in this text can be looked up in the glossary, while the familiar debt and dividend side of the market is covered in the relevant sections — debt securities and the payout calendar. Current regulatory announcements are published in the news.