Paxos Affirms PYUSD Stability with New Transparency Report

Stablecoin issuer Paxos, in one of the latest developments, released the first transparency but unaudited report for the recently born Paypal USD, or PYUSD stablecoin, affirming the stability and reliability of the assets.

This latest report also highlighted that, as the curtains fell in August, the lion’s share – over 90% – of PYUSD was held in Paxos wallet, with another approximately 7% scattered across various exchanges such as Kraken, Gate.io, and Crypto.com. 

Paxos’ PYUSD Report Now Out! 

The first report unveils the performance metrics of Paypal USD stablecoin, as observed in its debut month, i.e., August 2023. As of August 31, 2023, the number of outstanding PYUSD tokens amounted to $44.4 million, with a notional position value of about $44.5 million.

Interestingly, the asset composition for PYUSD is majorly backed by U.S. Treasury reverse repurchase agreements. In layman’s terms, a reverse repurchase agreement is a deal between two parties. In this arrangement, one party pledges to sell securities to the other at a predetermined price but also commits to repurchase them later.

In the case of Paypal, 97% of the PYUSD – approximately $43 million, is backed by the agreements, under the stewardship of Paxos, but benefiting the PYUSD holders. 

Paxos provided reassurance concerning this setup, articulating:

“Our repurchase agreements are overnight maturity with reputable financial institutions and overcollateralized with the U.S. Treasuries.”

In the unlikely event of a default, Paxos will sell off the U.S. treasury assets to redress any balances. Given that the assets are overcollateralized with U.S. Treasuries, Paxos confidently asserts that the prospect of loss is virtually negligible.

Aside from the amounts backed by reverse repurchase agreements, Paxos holds about $1.5 million in fiat. 

Paxos clarifies that not all fiat deposits are covered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or private insurance. As such, there could be potential losses in bank insolvency.

Bitpay is among the biggest adopters of PYUSD, having recently added the stablecoin as a payment option on Sept. 12. This development indicates the increasing adoption of PYUSD. Other exchanges holding some PYUSD include Kraken, Gate.io, and Crypto.com.

Community Charmed by Paxos’ PYUSD Transparency  

The move to release a report has been vastly praised within the crypto community, with many noting that it bolsters trust and stability in PYUSD. Crypto Simon, an X (Twitter) user, wrote:

“That’s significant news for the crypto space, especially for those who use or are considering using PYUSD. It adds a layer of trust and stability to the stablecoin. mycryptoparadise”

However, the adoption is still slower than expected since Paxos has yet to release about 36.9 million PYUSD tokens.