Dashboard metrics
The dashboard considers the metrics and content elements outlined in the CDMD metrics and data feed table below. The following supporting text specifies what each dashboard metric or content element means and how they were calculated or obtained. The first CDMD iteration includes metrics provided by the data partners 
and 
. The second iteration was supported with data by 
. The project is also supported by 
, whose data is planned to be included in future iterations and has been used internally by the project team as a supporting data source.
CDMD metrics and data feed
Metric / Content element | Description | Relevant charts | Source |
Stablecoin supply (in USD) (market capitalisation) | The aggregate USD value of the stablecoin price multiplied by its supply, also referred to as market capitalisation. Data is sourced from Lukka Reference Data, and Lukka Prime minute by minute pricing, leveraging the Lukka Prime Pricing Methodology. | Aggregate stablecoin supply,
Stablecoin supply breakdown | Dynamic: |
Stablecoin supply (in native units) | The sum of all native units of a stablecoin issued minus the number of units that have been burned or are locked at the end of an interval | Aggregate stablecoin supply | Dynamic: |
Adjusted value of transfers (in native units)
| The sum of native units transferred between distinct addresses for the selected time interval removing noise and certain artefacts | Transfer breakdown | Dynamic: |
Adjusted number of transfers | The sum count of transfers for the selected time interval. Transfers represent movements of native units from one ledger entity to another distinct ledger entity. Only transfers that are the result of a transaction and that have a positive (non-zero) value are counted. | Transfer breakdown | Dynamic: |
Active stablecoin supply
| The count of unique native units that transacted at least once in the trailing window of 360, 180, 90, 30 and 7 days. Native units that transacted more than once are only counted once. | Stablecoin velocity | Dynamic: |
Direct flows | Transfers where both the source and the destination counterparty are wallets belonging to the identified and analysed service entities. Service entities are platforms open to receiving or sending virtual assets with a third party in exchange for a good or service. Examples include exchanges and smart contracts. The raw metric used as a basis for aggregates and visualisations is usdamountdirect: USD amount sent by a jurisdiction directly to a destination jurisdiction. More information can be found on the Chainalysis data description page. | Geography of stablecoin flows | Dynamic: |
Indirect flows | Transfers of assets where at least one counterparty to the transfer is a non-service entity (typically a private self-hosted wallet) but where the ultimate source or destination of the transfer is an identified and analysed service entity. The raw metric used as a basis for aggregates and visualisations is usdamountindirect: USD amount sent by a jurisdiction indirectly to a destination jurisdiction. More information can be found on the Chainalysis data description page. | Geography of stablecoin flows | Dynamic: |
USD denominated price | Minute by minute USD denominated pricing data for stablecoins via the Lukka Prime Pricing Methodology. Prices are determined based on executed trades that occurred on the principal market that was determined by the pricing methodology. Lukka Prime analyses data from a number of centralised exchanges and applies a multi-step approach to dynamically determine the principal market. More information can be found on the Lukka Prime FAQ page. | Peg stability,
Depeg statistics calculator,
Peg stability comparison | Dynamic: |
Reserve composition | Monthly or quarterly value data for different assets backing a stablecoin | Stablecoin reserve asset composition | Static: manual data extraction from official audit reports |
Crypto actions | A comprehensive event feed that tracks the history of a stablecoin and captures relevant major changes to the ecosystem, such as contract migrations, ticker changes, exchange listings/delistings and auditor changes | Major stablecoin events timeline | Static:
extended via manual data extraction from public sources |
Regulatory requirements | Overview of the key regulatory requirements in the select jurisdictions | Regulatory frameworks | Static: manual data extraction from official sources |
User agreements | Overview of the key terms and conditions of the user agreements of the select stablecoin issuers | User agreements | Static: manual data extraction from official websites of the stablecoin issuers |
The supply of a stablecoin represents the sum of all native units ever created and visible on the ledger(s) (i.e. issued) at the end of an interval. This metric provides insights into the actual adoption and usage of the stablecoin, as well as fluctuations in demand and potential market trends.
The supply in USD (market capitalisation) is the total USD value of the stablecoin supply. This figure, also referred to as ‘network value’ or ‘market capitalisation’, defines the relative sizes of the stablecoin circles presented on the Aggregate stablecoin supply chart.
Stablecoin transfers are transfers of units of a stablecoin between parties occurring and visible on chain. This does not consider off-chain transactions, such as transactions on centralised exchanges. Only non-zero value, successful transfers with distinct senders and recipients are considered to be stablecoin transfers. These transfers can involve sending or receiving stablecoins in exchange for other cryptocurrencies, as well as using stablecoins to pay for goods and services.
The adjusted value of transfers provides a more accurate reflection of the transfer activity. This metric tracks the sum of native units transferred between distinct addresses during a specified time interval, removing noise and certain artefacts that are not indicative of genuine economic activity.
By counting the total number and value of transfers involving a stablecoin within a designated time frame, valuable insights can be gained into the stablecoin’s adoption, usage, growth, stability and changes in demand.
The term ‘velocity’ refers to the rate at which the average unit of a monetary form is exchanged within an economy. It is traditionally given by V=PY/M, where PY is the nominal value of the production (usually measured by the gross domestic product) and M is the measure of the size of the monetary form (usually M1 or M2 monetary aggregate is used). However, since stablecoins are a relatively new digital money instrument, there is currently no established or conventional approach to measure their velocity. In the first CDMD iteration, we calculate velocity according to this formula (1):
The adjusted transfer value metric is used with a trailing window of 7 days, 30 days, 90 days, 180 days and 360 days to correspond to the ratio selected by the user. The formula uses the active supply value (in native units) at the end of the respective trailing window.
The velocity chart also displays the 30-days moving average of the Bitcoin price and indicates periods of prolonged decrease in the adjusted value of transfers of a stablecoin. This information is intended to provide additional context reflecting major changes in the overall cryptoasset market and specific stablecoin environments, respectively.
A period of prolonged decrease in value of transfers signifies a period of four or more consecutive weeks (7-day periods) when the value of transfers is lower than during the previous week.
The moving average is a commonly used technical indicator in financial analysis to smooth out data and identify trends over a specific period. We use the following simple moving average with a 30-day window formula (2):
As regulations are usually jurisdiction-specific, users and use cases in different countries vary, and businesses structure their operations according to local markets, it's essential to understand stablecoin activity across regions and jurisdictions. A geographic perspective provides a greater insight than focusing on general trends; it indicates stablecoin hotspots worldwide and hints at changes in use cases and adoption trends.
Proxy-based estimates of the stablecoin flow geography leverage 1) data on the stablecoin transfer activity of the identified wallets belonging to service entities with a web presence and 2) the analysis of web traffic to these service entities' websites.
Transfer activity includes sending and receiving stablecoins on a blockchain: the Ethereum blockchain for USDT, USDC, BUSD, DAl, TUSD, USDP and GUSD, and the Tron blockchain for USDT.
Service entities are platforms open to receiving or sending virtual assets with a third party in exchange for a good or service. Examples include exchanges and smart contracts. The estimate considers private wallets and wallets of unidentified service entities only to the extent they interact with the identified and analysed service entities.
Estimates differentiate between direct and indirect flows:
Direct flows are transfers where both the source and the destination counterparty are the identified and analysed service entities.
Indirect flows are transfers of assets where at least one counterparty to the transfer is a non-service entity (typically a private self-hosted wallet) but the ultimate source or destination of the transfer is an identified and analysed service entity.
Most people interact with stablecoins primarily by visiting a service entity's website or app. This provides the foundation for one of the few general methods (scalable to cover most jurisdictions and blockchain entities) developed to estimate stablecoin geography. The method uses data on the location of users (IP addresses) visiting service entities' websites to assign shares of different jurisdictions in stablecoin transfers. The source of data on website visits is SimilarWeb. Data is available in monthly time periods from June 2020 and covers desktop and mobile websites. UNSD M49 standard is used to assign jurisdictions.
The geography of stablecoin flows map provides three key metrics:
Outgoing flows: USD amount transferred by a source jurisdiction to a destination jurisdiction.
Incoming flows: USD amount received by a destination jurisdiction from a source jurisdiction.
Net (surplus/deficit): the difference between the incoming and outgoing flows for a jurisdiction.
Metric aggregations are made at jurisdiction and world levels. Depending on the metric selected, direct or indirect flows are used as raw data for calculations.
For the net results view, the estimates also include the undefined category. It represents the share of net flows belonging to services with an undefined geography. This addition is needed to ensure every transfer considered for the net results view has a recipient and a sender. Such transfers happen happen when a known service that has web traffic data receives stablecoins from or sends stablecoins to a known service that has no web traffic data.
The undefined category may also include an net result for the "funds in transition." These arise when indirect flows are included in the analysis and represent the share of net flows where one counterparty is a non-service entity (typically a private self-hosted wallet, but potentially also an unknown service).
Some of the assumptions underlying and potentially limiting the accuracy of the estimates are:
Web visits represent the users of a service accurately.
Web visits transform into on-chain activity proportionally.
The proportion of visits transforming into on-chain activities is the same across jurisdictions.
Web visits transform equally into incoming and outgoing flows.
Web visitors from different jurisdictions transfer equal shares of different assets.
Future dashboard releases may address some of the disadvantages of the above assumptions.
Other important methodology aspects and limitations:
Estimates are based on the on-chain activity of wallets belonging to identified service entities with web presence and available web traffic data. These wallets cover only a portion of all on-chain stablecoin transfers (for instance, the analysis of direct flows on average covers approximately 20% of all relevant transfers, the coverage varies depending on the considered time, asset, blockchain network and other settings).
Not all service entities could be identified or fully identified and the list of identified wallets is being updated continuously.
Web traffic data is not available for all service entities. Additionally, data on on-chain activity typically goes further back in time than data on web traffic, which goes back to June 2020 at the earliest. When this is the case the earliest share of geographic activity is used as an estimate for earlier periods.
Web traffic data is provided as monthly aggregates. The shares during the month are assumed to be constant.
Web traffic data does not consider Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and is subject to virtual private network (VPN) distortions.
The peg stability of stablecoins is an indicator of how well a stablecoin maintains its peg relative to the underlying asset or basket of assets. The stability of a stablecoin's peg can be assessed by analysing its exchange rate against the pegged asset over time.
The mean provides an indication of the average price of a stablecoin over a specified period. It is calculated using formula (3):
The peg stability charts include standard deviation metric as a measure of dispersion. This metric analyses the stablecoin’s exchange rate against the pegged asset or basket of assets and calculates the standard deviation from the peg. A stablecoin with a low standard deviation is deemed more stable. The calculation is performed using formula (4):
However, we recommend interpreting standard deviation values cautiously and in conjunction with other measures of dispersion. This is because the price of stablecoins exhibits a non-normal distribution, characterised by a high concentration of observations around the mean (1 USD), a large positive kurtosis and skewness.
Ensuring the stability of a stablecoin’s peg is crucial for establishing it as a reliable store of value and to facilitate transactions. Additionally, it fosters trust in the stablecoin, promoting wider adoption among users.
The price distribution histogram provides a visual representation of the prices of a given stablecoin over a selected time period. The breaks of the histogram are predefined to show differences of 0.0004, and tooltips for individual histogram bars show the middle price in the interval. Accompanying the histogram is a density curve that smoothens the data. The density curve is included for illustrative purposes and should not be used for making predictive inferences about the underlying distribution.
Breaking the band refers to the scenario where the stablecoin’s price moves outside the specified range of its target value, typically set at 1:1 ratio with the asset it is pegged to.
The ‘band’ or a threshold refers to the range of acceptable deviations from the target value. For instance, a stablecoin might have a band of +/- 1% around its target value, indicating it is within an acceptable range as long as it trades within 1% above or below the target value. Conventionally, 1% is used as a target value in traditional finance by international monetary organisations such as the IMF.
If the stablecoin’s price moves outside the pre-defined threshold, it is considered to have broken the peg. Such an event can signal a loss of confidence in the stablecoin and may be accompanied by increased volatility or even a collapse of the stablecoin’s price. In response, the issuer may take corrective actions and restore the price by adjusting the supply, changing the composition of the backing assets or applying other stabilisation mechanisms.
The calculator displays the following metrics:
Instances are all the events (strikes) when the stablecoin lost its peg, regardless of the longevity of such events.
Overall time is the sum of all observations that did not fit into the selected interval.
Continuous time describes an instance and refers to the number of subsequent hours when the price was above or below the desired threshold: two hours in a row, three hours in a row, etc.
Maximum shows the maximum number of hours for an instance.
The reserve asset composition of a stablecoin refers to the composition of assets that are held in reserve to back the stablecoin. The composition varies depending on the stablecoin. To determine the reserve asset composition, we analyse publicly available data from the issuer’s disclosures.
Understanding the reserve asset composition is important as it influences the stability of the stablecoin’s value and its ability to withstand market shocks. It also plays a role in mitigating risks with concentration in reserves.
The crypto actions timeline is intended to provide a context for the reserves data and other stablecoin metrics. The timeline is based on a comprehensive event feed that tracks the full history of a stablecoin and captures relevant major changes to the ecosystem, such as contract migrations, ticker changes, exchange listings/delistings and auditor changes.
The Regulatory regime and requirements table offers users an overview of the regulatory environment for stablecoin issuers in a selected jurisdiction. It outlines various licence regimes, regulatory authorities at both the federal and state levels (if applicable), regulatory requirements, investor protection measures and more.
The User agreements table offers viewers an overview of the key terms and conditions governing the relationship between users and stablecoin issuers. This table consolidates user agreements from various stablecoin issuers, allowing users to understand the common elements across different offerings.
