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Head-to-head · Stablecoins

USDS (Sky) vs frxUSD (Frax USD) frxUSD (Frax USD) leads by 1 point.

frxUSD (Frax USD) scores 1 point above USDS (Sky), led by counterparty and insolvency rank and reserve and assurance scope. USDS (Sky) ranks #10 and frxUSD (Frax USD) #7 of 11 published stablecoins. Every term of the gap is on the ledger below; the inputs are on the audit receipt.

USDS (Sky)55
frxUSD (Frax USD)56
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99 · ranks #10 and #7 of 11
Methodology v2026.10.18Ranking snapshot Evidence verified through 4 published criteria5 score dimensions Receipt #cc-VS-USDS-SKY-VS-FRXUSD-FRAX-USD-367d04d7
Published verdictRanking snapshot 3 November 2026

frxUSD (Frax USD) leads by 1 point

frxUSD (Frax USD) scores 1 point above USDS (Sky), led by counterparty and insolvency rank and reserve and assurance scope.

USDS (Sky) #10 of 1155
frxUSD (Frax USD) #7 of 1156
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99; a bar is empty at 41 and full at 99.
Why, term by termfrxUSD (Frax USD) leads on 2 of 4 published criteria; USDS (Sky) on 2. The terms sum to the gap.
TermfrxUSD (Frax USD)USDS (Sky)WeightPoints
Counterparty and insolvency rank2/101/107.2+1.9for frxUSD (Frax USD)+1.0 of 32
Redemption right exercised3/104/106.7−1.7for USDS (Sky)−0.9 of 32
Reserve and assurance scope3/101/105.8+3.0for frxUSD (Frax USD)+1.5 of 32
Seizure and upgrade authority3/105/104.3−2.2for USDS (Sky)−1.2 of 32
Net of the terms+0.9
Criteria roundingThe criteria block is rounded to whole points before it is spread+0.2
Reproduced gap+1.0

Weight is in points of the 86-point weighted total. Points are score points of the gap between the two.

  • A row-above bound on one row means the criterion arithmetic does not reproduce the displayed gap exactly.
Quick facts

At a glance

2 of 3 rows read the same for both.
FactUSDS (Sky)frxUSD (Frax USD)
PricingSnapshotMINT/REDEEM FEES AND MINIMUMS ARE NOT IN ANY BINDING DOCUMENT. The Skybase International Terms of Use (https://docs.sky.money/legal/skybase-international/terms-of-use, "Version: 2.0 | Last Modified: 1 September 2026", fetched 29 September 2026) is the silent page: 0 occurrences of "redeem" or "redemption", and no fee schedule or minimum of any kind for acquiring or exiting USDS. The only published pricing sits in the protocol documentation and on-chain. Sky Protocol Docs, https://developers.sky.money/protocol/tokens/usds/ (redirects to developers.skyeco.com, fetched 29 September 2026), DAI USDS Converter: "Converts DAI to USDS at a fixed ratio of 1:1 and vice versa." / "No fees assessed." / "Fees cannot be enabled on this route in the future." Sky Protocol Docs, https://developers.sky.money/guides/psm/litepsm/ (fetched 29 September 2026): "The tin fee is assessed on all sellGem transactions, and the tout fee is assessed on all buyGem transactions. Both tin and tout values are set by Sky Ecosystem governance." and "All users, both public and authorized, can only swap up to the DAI and USDC balances held by LitePSM-DAI-USDC." CURRENT VALUES, all read at ONE Ethereum block, 26,082,220 (2026-09-29T09:26:59Z) via https://ethereum-rpc.publicnode.com: LitePSM-DAI-USDC 0xf6e72Db5454dd049d0788e411b06CfAF16853042 tin() = 0 and tout() = 0; LitePSMWrapper-USDS-USDC 0xA188EEC8F81263234dA3622A406892F3D630f98c tin() = 0 and tout() = 0. No minimum size is published or enforced on either route; the practical ceiling is module inventory — 4,133,680,653.128042 USDC in the Pocket 0x37305B1cD40574E4C5Ce33f8e8306Be057fD7341 at that block against a USDS totalSupply of 6,672,590,279.74 (label: on-chain reads, true only at the stamped block). Marketing counterpart on https://sky.money/ (fetched 29 September 2026), reworded since August: "Swap anytime. No fees, no slippage."NO BINDING DOCUMENT PRICES MINT OR REDEMPTION. The FraxNet Terms of Service, https://net.frax.com/terms (fetched 29 September 2026; the page's "Last updated" line renders the fetch date, and the extracted text is the same 16,771 characters as in August), contain 0 occurrences of "redeem", "redemption", "minimum" and "frxUSD", and no fee table of any kind. PUBLISHED FEES — Frax documentation, https://docs.frax.com/frxusd/fiat-onramp-offramp (fetched 29 September 2026), whose "Fees" section lists exactly two items: Exchange Fee, "May be applied by Bridge.xyz during currency conversion"; RWA Liquidation Fee, "A 1 BPS conversion fee may apply if real-world assets (RWAs) are being liquidated to meet cash redemptions". Both are conditional and the exchange leg is unquantified. The same page gates the fiat route: "All users must complete Persona KYC/KYB and Bridge.xyz verification", and the only supported account types are "U.S. checking accounts" and "U.S. savings accounts". ON-CHAIN FEES AND CAPACITY (label: eth_call reads at Ethereum blocks 26,082,253-26,082,262, not page prices): the permissionless USDC route 0x4F95C5bA0C7c69FB2f9340E190cCeE890B3bd87c still returns mintFee() = 0 and redeemFee() = 0, but holds 0 USDC (totalAssets() = 0; it held 1,385,323.315876 USDC on 19 August 2026), so it cannot pay out today; the RWA routes USTB 0x5fbAa3A3B489199338fbD85F7E3D444dc0504F33, BUIDL 0xe827abf9f462ac4f147753d86bc5f91e186e4e9c and WTGXX 0x860Cc723935FC9A15fF8b1A94237a711DFeF7857 return mintFee() = 0 and redeemFee() = 1e14, i.e. 1 basis point, and require addresses "onboarded to hold BUIDL, USTB, or WTGXX" (https://docs.frax.com/frxusd/mint-and-redeem-routes); the USDB route 0xFE2Ea8dE262d956e852F12DE108fda57171a0a29 is fee-free and holds 1.538966 USDB; an AUSD route 0x537bed9200fc5a14ab56e554016753676eff12b0, added as a minter at block 25,832,426 and not listed on the routes page, charges a 1e14 (1 basis point) redeemFee and holds 35,696.844801 AUSD. frxUSD totalSupply() = 93,369,845.27. NOT A PRICE: https://docs.frax.com/frxusd still advertises "Earn 4.1% APY from Treasury yields (subject to treasury backing performance)" — the sfrxUSD/FraxNet savings product, which this page does not score.
Asset coverageEditorial——
Region fitSnapshotglobalglobal
From the published criteria

Which should you pick?

USDS (Sky)

55#10 of 11
Pick it when
Pick USDS (Sky) if redemption right exercised matters most — it scores 4/10 to frxUSD (Frax USD)'s 3/10 there (weight 28).
Strength
Seizure and upgrade authority — 5/10
Tradeoff
That nobody is on the other side. Sky's binding Terms of Use (Version 2.0, last modified 1 September 2026) contain zero occurrences of the words "redeem" or "redemption", and the same document states that Skybase International "is not a subsidiary, agent, or representative of the Sky Protocol" and that neither it nor its affiliates are "party to any transaction on the Sky Protocol" — so there is no entity a holder can present USDS to for a dollar, and no insolvency rank to hold. The par exit everyone actually uses is a swap into USDC through a governance-owned module, and Sky's own protocol documentation says "Governance can set either tin or tout to the value of type(uint256).max , halting sellGem and buyGem transactions respectively on the LitePSM. Transactions would be halted for both public and authorized users." while sky.money's homepage advertises "Swap anytime. No fees, no slippage." Worse than the fee switch: the DAI leg's converter is genuinely immutable, but it mints through UsdsJoin, whose mint call is auth-gated on the token, so a single deny() from the pause proxy severs that route too. A buyer who read only the homepage would learn none of this.

frxUSD (Frax USD)

56#7 of 11
Leads
Pick it when
Pick frxUSD (Frax USD) if counterparty and insolvency rank matters most — it scores 2/10 to USDS (Sky)'s 1/10 there (weight 30).
Strength
Redemption right exercised — 3/10
Tradeoff
This record scores frxUSD; the legacy pair does not belong in it. Every legacy-token read reproduces at pinned block 25,790,057 on 2026-08-19: legacy FRAX 0x853d955aCEf822Db058eb8505911ED77F175b99e returns name() = 'Frax', symbol() = 'FRAX', totalSupply() = 219,320,045.8726, more than twice frxUSD's 99,546,198.812956; legacy sFRAX 0xA663B02CF0a4b149d2aD41910CB81e23e1c41c32 returns 'Staked FRAX' / 'sFRAX' at 56,157,367.8378; sfrxUSD 0xcf62F905562626CfcDD2261162a51fd02Fc9c5b6 returns 'Staked Frax USD' / 'sfrxUSD' at 30,289,675.5744; and FXS 0x3432B6A60D23Ca0dFCa7761B7ab56459D9C964D0 still returns 'Frax Share' / 'FXS'. FIP-428 renames the governance token: gov.frax.finance topic 3652, "[FIP - 428] Frax North Star Proposal - V2" (2025-03-09), states "FXS will be renamed to FRAX" and "'Legacy' FRAX (the original stablecoin) will be renamed to Legacy Frax Dollar". On the read date the string "FRAX" could therefore mean a legacy stablecoin, a governance token mid-rename, or the retired brand of frxUSD. FIP-430 proposes, and nothing records as done, "(1) establishing two distinct balance sheets—one for Legacy FRAX Dollar and one for frxUSD"; neither FIP carries an execution receipt. It also says "the Frax Finance DAO will no longer guarantee 1-to-1 migration between Legacy FRAX Dollar and frxUSD" and leaves Legacy FRAX to "continue to operate under its AMO-driven, DeFi-native model". net.frax.com says frxUSD "can always be redeemed 1:1 for US dollars", while the Terms of Service on the same domain contain the word "redeem" zero times and still describe "a fractional-algorithmic stablecoin". And on 2026-09-29 the permissionless USDC route held 0 USDC and the fee-free USDB route 1.538966 USDB, so the documented permissionless par exit could not pay out, while the undisclosed live mint authority is still there.
Self-identify in 10 seconds

Which one is actually for you?

USDS (Sky)

Choose USDS (Sky) if redemption right exercised matters most

  • Redemption right exercised: 4/10 against 3/10 for frxUSD (Frax USD) (weight 28)
  • Seizure and upgrade authority: 5/10 against 3/10 for frxUSD (Frax USD) (weight 18)
frxUSD (Frax USD)Leads

Choose frxUSD (Frax USD) if counterparty and insolvency rank matters most

  • Counterparty and insolvency rank: 2/10 against 1/10 for USDS (Sky) (weight 30)
  • Reserve and assurance scope: 3/10 against 1/10 for USDS (Sky) (weight 24)
Criterion by criterion

Scorecard

Published criteria · weight in points of 868 of 8 cells scored. Strength is read from the evidence file; the weight is the published one. Methodology

Counterparty and insolvency rank

by 1 of 10weight 7.2 of 86frxUSD (Frax USD) leads
USDS (Sky)1 out of 10
frxUSD (Frax USD)2 out of 10

Redemption right exercised

by 1 of 10weight 6.7 of 86USDS (Sky) leads
USDS (Sky)4 out of 10
frxUSD (Frax USD)3 out of 10

Reserve and assurance scope

by 2 of 10weight 5.8 of 86frxUSD (Frax USD) leads
USDS (Sky)1 out of 10
frxUSD (Frax USD)3 out of 10

Seizure and upgrade authority

by 2 of 10weight 4.3 of 86USDS (Sky) leads
USDS (Sky)5 out of 10
frxUSD (Frax USD)3 out of 10

Score dimensions

weights sum to 86

The published score is five dimensions, each weighted for the category. "Published criteria" is the criteria block above; the other four are the engine's own terms — availability, friction, trust record, measured data. Each bar is one side's points out of that dimension's maximum; the weight beside the name is its points of the 86-point weighted total. The published criteria above can fill 24 of the block’s 30. A weight marked “constant here” belongs to a dimension every ranked product in the category holds at the same value: it still counts in the total, and it orders nothing here.

Availabilityweight 20 of 86 · constant here
USDS (Sky)14/20frxUSD (Frax USD)14/20
Tie
Published criteriaweight 30 of 86
USDS (Sky)6.1/30frxUSD (Frax USD)6.5/30
frxUSD (Frax USD) leads
Frictionweight 10 of 86 · constant here
USDS (Sky)2.7/10frxUSD (Frax USD)2.7/10
Tie
Trust recordweight 8 of 86 · constant here
USDS (Sky)3.2/8frxUSD (Frax USD)3.2/8
Tie
Measured dataweight 18 of 86 · constant here
USDS (Sky)8.3/18frxUSD (Frax USD)8.3/18
Tie
Decision rulePublished order

Choose frxUSD (Frax USD) unless the term USDS (Sky) leads on is the one you are buying.

Pick USDS (Sky) if redemption right exercised matters most — it scores 4/10 to frxUSD (Frax USD)'s 3/10 there (weight 28).

The published order weighs every criterion the same way for everyone. To weigh them your way, run .

From the published order

Next best action

If this isn't your case

Other matchups worth comparing

How you can lose money here, and what the ranking scores
  • Control failure: a key or vote changes the rules, freezes or mints.
    Scored by Who can freeze, burn or replace your balance — and have they? · 18% (USDS (Sky) 5/10, frxUSD (Frax USD) 3/10)
  • Insolvency failure: the firm or issuer that owes you cannot pay.
    Scored by Who exactly owes you the dollar, and where do you rank when they fail? · 30% (USDS (Sky) 1/10, frxUSD (Frax USD) 2/10)
    Scored by What is really behind it, and what did the third party actually opine on? · 24% (USDS (Sky) 1/10, frxUSD (Frax USD) 3/10)
  • Exit failure: you cannot get out at par, on time, or with what is yours.
    Scored by Can the person actually holding it get a dollar back at par — and has anyone, at size? · 28% (USDS (Sky) 4/10, frxUSD (Frax USD) 3/10)
Not assessed by this ranking: Contract failure, Custody failure, Regulatory failure, Information failure. A high place says nothing about these; the Methodology tab says what each means.
Questions

Frequently asked questions

frxUSD (Frax USD) scores 1 point above USDS (Sky), led by counterparty and insolvency rank and reserve and assurance scope. Published scores, out of 100: USDS (Sky) 55 (rank 10 of 11 stablecoins), frxUSD (Frax USD) 56 (rank 7 of 11).

Related pages

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Written and reviewed by Founder
Reviewed Next review by Methodology v2026.10.18
How this page is reviewed

Reviewed means both products compared here was read against its sources on or after that date; every ranked category is re-read at least every 45 days. Models research, extract and parse. A deterministic engine ranks. Every quote passes an adversarial refute pass.

Accountable for this review: Mathias Siemonsmeier, Founder.

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