Swap USDG at the Best Rate

What is USDG?

USDG is a single-currency stablecoin designed around Singapore's regulatory framework rather than a US one. The issuer, Paxos Digital Singapore, holds a Major Payment Institution license, and the token is built to comply with the Monetary Authority of Singapore's stablecoin framework, which prescribes reserve quality, capital, redemption at par within five business days and public monthly attestations.

The token launched on Ethereum on 1 November 2024 with six decimals, and issuance has since extended to other approved networks and, through a European Paxos affiliate regulated in Finland, to the European Union under the MiCA regime. Paxos also issues other regulated stablecoins, and USDG is its Singapore-anchored, partner-distributed entry.

How USDG works

Dollars paid in for USDG are held in segregated reserves composed of cash and short-dated US government securities, with DBS Bank, Southeast Asia's largest bank, acting as primary banking partner for custody and cash management. The token is redeemable one for one with the issuer, and an independent accounting firm attests to the reserves monthly, with the reports published as the MAS framework requires.

Distribution is the distinctive part. The Global Dollar Network, launched alongside the token with founding partners including Anchorage Digital, Galaxy Digital, Kraken, Nuvei, Paxos and Robinhood, shares the economics generated by the reserve with the enterprises that mint, hold and move USDG, an incentive model aimed at businesses that other stablecoins keep for their issuers.

USDG supply and tokenomics

USDG supply is uncapped and mirrors demand: tokens are minted when customers fund purchases and burned on redemption, with no schedule, allocation or usage-linked burn. Holders do not earn yield from the reserves; the interest income is what funds the network's partner incentives, and Singapore's framework treats regulated stablecoins as payment instruments rather than deposit substitutes, without deposit insurance coverage.

Who builds USDG

Paxos is a US-founded regulated blockchain infrastructure company that has issued asset-backed tokens since 2018, and it operates USDG through its Singapore entity. Its whitepaper describes segregated, bankruptcy-protected reserve accounts held on trust for holders as the core protection, alongside transaction monitoring by the blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis.

The choice of DBS as banking partner anchors the reserve custody at a systemically significant Asian bank, and the Global Dollar Network's advisory committee gives distribution partners a formal voice in how the network develops.

How USDG is governed

USDG has no token-holder governance. Paxos Digital Singapore controls issuance, redemption terms and reserve management under MAS supervision, and its whitepaper states that tokens and reserves can be frozen, seized or forfeited where law enforcement requires it for illegal or sanctioned use. Network partners advise on strategy through the consortium, but holders rely on the issuer and its regulators.

What people use USDG for

USDG is aimed at enterprises that move dollars, with the network model recruiting the platforms its users already sit on.

• Dollar settlement and payouts on platforms run by network partners such as exchanges and brokerages.
• Payments and treasury flows that need a regulated, redeemable on-chain dollar.
• Trading pair and collateral in decentralized markets on its approved chains.
• Cross-border transfers where a Singapore-regulated instrument is preferable to a US-issued one.

USDG risks and considerations

USDG carries issuer and custodian concentration: the peg rests on Paxos Digital Singapore honoring par redemption and on the banks holding the reserves, and the monthly attestations are point-in-time examinations rather than continuous audits. The issuer's freeze and seizure powers mean a holder's tokens can be immobilized in a law-enforcement context without their own action.

The regulatory framing is a feature with a flip side: Singapore's framework explicitly excludes stablecoins from deposit insurance, so holders have no government backstop if the issuer or a custodian fails. Official deployments exist on several chains with different addresses, so verify the contract for your network against the issuer's own listings.