sUSD

sUSD is the original Synthetix dollar, and it has never been backed by cash. It is minted when SNX stakers lock their tokens as collateral and take on debt against them, which makes it a purely crypto-collateralized claim redeemed through the protocol rather than a company. That reflexive design has a history of stress, and 2025 exposed it: a governance change called SIP-420 shifted backing from individual stakers to a shared debt pool and cut the collateral ratio, gutting the incentive that once led stakers to buy discounted sUSD and defend the peg. The token fell to around 68 cents in April and sank near 20 cents by August before clawing back much of the gap. There is no central issuer to lean on; the Synthetix Foundation was decommissioned in 2020, and the token's stability rests entirely on protocol mechanics and the price of SNX.