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Glossary

Peg Deviation

How far a stablecoin’s price is from its $1.00 target, expressed as a fraction.

Range
0.0 (perfect peg) to 1.0 (full collapse); usually < 0.005
Formula summary
abs(price − 1.0) / 1.0

Peg Deviation measures the absolute distance between a stablecoin’s current market price and its $1.00 reference, expressed as a decimal fraction. 0.0012 means 12 basis points (0.12%) off peg.

How to read it

For mature, USD-pegged stablecoins:

  • Under 0.001 (10 bps) — perfectly normal market noise. Arbitrage usually closes it within minutes.
  • 0.001 to 0.005 (10–50 bps) — mild stress, often during exchange-flow imbalances.
  • 0.005 to 0.02 (50–200 bps) — meaningful stress. Worth checking news.
  • Above 0.02 (200+ bps) — material depeg. May indicate a real backing or redemption problem.

Why it’s useful as a number, not a chart

The chart tells you when the deviation happened. The number tells you how bad it is right now. We display both on every stablecoin page so you can answer "is the peg holding?" without needing to read a graph.

Common misreadings

A small persistent deviation (say, 30 bps high or low) is often just market structure — exchange-listed stablecoins can hover slightly off peg because the redemption channel is gated to authorised participants. Look at the chart shape, not just the headline value: episodic spikes and rapid recoveries are normal; sustained drift is what matters.

Related

Note: Research and education only. Not financial advice. Social metrics reflect crowd attention and chatter, not asset value or future price movement.