Solana’s USX Stablecoin Plunges to $0.10 in Dramatic Liquidity Drain
Another stablecoin wobbles—this time, it's Solana's USX taking a nosedive.
The Liquidity Vanishing Act
Markets watched as USX briefly detached from its dollar peg, cratering to just ten cents. The culprit? A sudden, severe drain on available liquidity pools. The mechanism designed to maintain stability buckled under pressure.
Depeg Dynamics on a High-Speed Chain
Solana's blistering transaction speeds didn't prevent the depeg. The event highlights a brutal truth for algorithmic and decentralized stablecoins: liquidity depth isn't a nice-to-have, it's the only thing standing between parity and panic. When it evaporates, the peg follows.
A Familiar Story with a New Setting
It's the classic crypto finance tale—innovation outpaces robustness. Builders race to launch the next big monetary primitive, while traders are left holding the bag when the clever mechanics meet a harsh, real-world stress test. Just another day of 'disrupting' finance, where the main thing being disrupted is investor capital.
The brief crash and recovery serve as a stark, pricey reminder: in crypto, stability is often just a liquidity illusion.
TLDR
- USX stablecoin on Solana dropped to $0.10 due to liquidity issues in secondary markets.
- The USX price drop was caused by market structure stress, not protocol failure.
- Solstice injected liquidity to stabilize USX, restoring it to $0.94 after the drop.
- Despite the depeg, USX’s collateral backing remained intact during the event.
On December 26, 2025, the USX stablecoin on the solana network temporarily lost its dollar peg. A sudden liquidity drain in secondary markets pushed the price of USX as low as $0.10 before it recovered. The event, which drew significant attention in the crypto community, highlighted the risks associated with thin market liquidity in the stablecoin sector.
Liquidity Drain Triggers Price Drop
The price drop of USX was not due to any failure of the protocol or collateral. Instead, on-chain data revealed that liquidity in secondary markets thinned rapidly. As liquidity providers withdrew, sell pressure pushed the price down aggressively. At its lowest point, USX traded at $0.10, a sharp deviation from its expected peg of $1. According to PeckShieldAlert, an early warning was issued as sharp price dislocations were observed.
#PeckShieldAlert The stablecoin $USX on #Solana suffered a temporary depeg, dropping to $0.1 on secondary markets due to a liquidity drain.
The peg was subsequently restored to $0.94 after @solsticefi injected liquidity. https://t.co/cG6oHm33zi pic.twitter.com/wYKLZLqI4v
— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) December 26, 2025
Solstice, the team behind USX, stated that the issue was isolated to secondary market trading. The primary market functions continued to operate normally during the event. Despite the depeg, Solstice reassured that the net asset value backing USX remained unaffected.
Solstice Injects Liquidity to Restore Stability
Following the significant drop in price, Solstice intervened to stabilize the market. The team confirmed that it injected fresh liquidity into secondary markets, which helped restore the price of USX to around $0.94. While this was still below its dollar peg, the price recovery marked a swift response to the market disturbance.
The Solstice team explained that the liquidity mismatch caused the temporary depeg and emphasized that the stablecoin remained fully collateralized. Solstice also mentioned that the USX’s primary market redemption options were unaffected, allowing users to redeem USX for its full value despite the market volatility.
Collateral Remains Secure
In a public statement, Solstice reassured the market that the collateral backing USX remained intact. The firm claimed that USX was backed by assets exceeding 100% of its circulating supply. To bolster confidence, Solstice announced that a third-party attestation WOULD be conducted to verify the collateral status, and the report would be made public once completed.
The firm stressed that no custodied assets were compromised and described the liquidity event as a temporary market structure issue rather than a solvency problem.
Lessons for the Stablecoin Sector
The USX incident underscores ongoing risks in the stablecoin space, particularly in markets with low liquidity. Even if a stablecoin is fully collateralized, secondary market dynamics can cause significant price volatility if liquidity dries up. The sudden drop in USX’s price demonstrates how quickly market conditions can change in thin or fragmented markets, making it important for stablecoin projects to ensure both liquidity and collateral remain robust.
As the stablecoin sector continues to expand, similar events could become more frequent. Analysts have noted that liquidity mismatches are more common in rapidly growing projects, which may struggle to maintain stable prices across multiple trading venues. For users, this event serves as a reminder of the risks that can arise from sudden market changes, even in highly established systems like Solana.
