Global Dollar

What it is

Global Dollar (USDG) is a US dollar stablecoin, a token pegged one to one to the dollar, issued by Paxos, the New York-founded firm that has spent over a decade building regulated crypto infrastructure. It launched on 1 November 2024 out of Singapore. The memorable fact is the business model: most stablecoin issuers keep the interest earned on their reserves, which at multi-billion scale is a fortune, whereas USDG was designed to share those economics with the partners who distribute it, an open attempt to buy adoption with yield.

How it works

The token follows the regulated fiat-backed model. Every USDG is backed one to one and redeemable from Paxos for dollars, with reserves held in cash and cash-equivalent assets and monthly reserve reports published for verification, according to globaldollar.com. Issuance sits with two regulated entities: Paxos Digital Singapore, supervised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and designed to align with its stablecoin framework, and Paxos Issuance Europe, overseen under the EU’s MiCA regime. DBS Bank, Southeast Asia’s largest bank, was named at launch as primary banking partner holding reserves. Around the token sits the Global Dollar Network, whose members earn rewards for driving USDG usage, aligning exchanges, wallets and fintechs behind one stablecoin.

The story so far

Paxos knows the stablecoin business from both sides. It issued BUSD, once a top-three stablecoin, until February 2023, when the New York State Department of Financial Services ordered it to stop minting new tokens. USDG is the considered response: multi-jurisdiction regulation from day one and distribution built on shared incentives. The Global Dollar Network launched in November 2024 with founding partners including Robinhood, Kraken, Galaxy Digital, Anchorage Digital, Bullish and Nuvei, and by 2026 the network reported passing 130 members, with names such as Mastercard and DBS joining, according to its own newsroom. A European launch followed under MiCA, and in July 2026 USDG went live on Robinhood Chain, the brokerage’s own blockchain.

Where it stands

As of late July 2026, CoinGecko ranks Global Dollar 28th among crypto assets, with about $3.3 billion in circulation trading at $1.00. That makes it a genuine challenger but still far behind the two dominant incumbents, whose combined circulation is measured in hundreds of billions. What to watch next: whether yield-sharing keeps pulling major platforms into the network, how the GENIUS Act era in the US and MiCA in Europe reshape the competitive field it was built for, and whether reserve reporting stays prompt and clean. USDG is a test of a simple idea, that distribution follows economics, and as of July 2026 the experiment is scaling steadily.