Safety Scores Changelog
Full version history of the grading methodology — every weight change, new dimension, and structural decision from v1.0 to v5.6.
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v5.6v5.6Exit-liquidity integrationMar 12, 2026
The Safety Score liquidity dimension now evaluates exit liquidity, not just raw DEX depth.
- Added a new redemption backstop datasetfor redeemable assets, covering onchain collateral redemptions, stable basket redemptions, queue-based liquid-buffer systems, and issuer redemption rails.
- The report-card Liquidity dimension now uses an effective exit score: DEX liquidity remains the floor, while redemption quality can improve the dimension without redefining the standalone DEX liquidity score.
- Added route-family caps so queue-based and offchain issuer systems cannot look unrealistically liquid even when redemption exists.
v5.5Peg score fairness for young coinsMar 1, 2026
Three fixes to the peg score formula that prevent young coins with chronic depegs from scoring artificially high:
- Tracking window capped at coin age — uses the coin's earliest supply snapshot instead of always defaulting to a 4-year window. A 30-day-old coin is now scored over 30 days, not 1,461.
- Severity magnitude floor — every depeg event carries a minimum penalty of (peakBps / 2000) × recencyWeight, regardless of duration. Hundreds of brief high-magnitude depegs now accumulate real cost.
- Active depeg penalty steepened — floor raised from 2 to 5, divisor changed from 200 to 50. A 500 bps ongoing depeg now costs 10 points (was 2.5).
v5.4No-liquidity penaltyFeb 28, 2026
When the Liquidity dimension is NR (no DEX data), the overall score now receives a 10% penalty instead of silently redistributing the weight to other dimensions.
As DEX pipeline coverage matures, absence of liquidity data is increasingly suspect and should not inflate grades.
v5.3Remove chain infra from ResilienceFeb 28, 2026
Chain infrastructure was scored in both Resilience (as a 25% sub-factor) and Decentralization (as a penalty) — double-counting chain risk.
- Chain infra now scored exclusively in Decentralization
- Resilience becomes a 3-factor model (each ⅓): Collateral Quality, Custody Model, Blacklist Capability
v5.2Immutable-code governance tierFeb 28, 2026
New highest GovernanceQuality tier: immutable-code → 100. For protocols with no admin keys, no upgrade path, no DAO attack surface (e.g. LUSD, BOLD). Exempt from chain infrastructure penalty.
Full GovernanceQuality tiers
| Tier | Score |
|---|---|
| immutable-code | 100 |
| dao-governance | 85 |
| multisig | 55 |
| regulated-entity | 40 |
| single-entity | 20 |
| wrapper | 10 |
v5.1Regulated-entity tier + blacklist softeningFeb 28, 2026
- Blacklist scoring softened: blacklistable 0→33, possible 50→66, not-blacklistable 100 (unchanged). Non-zero floor for blacklistable tokens.
- regulated-entity tier added (score 40). Auto-promoted from single-entity when: jurisdiction regulator + license set, and proof of reserves via independent audit. Exempt from chain infra penalty.
- Grade thresholds lowered 5 points (C-range overcrowding after blacklist/decentralization changes).
v5.0GovernanceQuality + universal dependency scoringFeb 28, 2026
Decentralization: 3-tier → 6-tier GovernanceQuality
The blunt 3-level governance type (decentralized / centralized-dependent / centralized) replaced by a 6-tier GovernanceQuality scale, inferred from governance type when not explicitly set.
Dependency Risk: universal, not CeFi-only
All coins with upstream dependencies are now scored — not just centralized-dependent ones. Self-backed scores vary by governance type: decentralized 90, centralized-dependent 75, centralized 95. Dependencies auto-derived from reserve composition data.
Chain infrastructure restructured
New two-axis model: ChainTier × DeploymentModel multiplier. Threshold-based penalty applied to the Decentralization dimension.
| Peg | Liquidity | Safety | Resilience | Decentralization | Dep Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| multiplier | 30% | — | 20% | 15% | 25% |
v4.1Liquidity weight increase + reclassificationsFeb 27, 2026
Liquidity 25%→30% (“swappability is the most defining aspect of a stablecoin”), resilience 25%→20%.
5 coins reclassified from centralized-dependent to decentralized: crvUSD, FRXUSD, USR, GYD, ALUSD.
| Peg | Liquidity | Safety | Resilience | Decentralization | Dep Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| multiplier | 30% | — | 20% | 15% | 25% |
v4.0Peg stability becomes a multiplierFeb 27, 2026
Biggest structural change. Peg Stability removed from the weighted base dimensions entirely and applied as a post-hoc power-curve multiplier:
| pegScore | Multiplier | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 1.000 | none |
| 90 | ≈0.979 | −2% |
| 50 | ≈0.870 | −13% |
| 10 | ≈0.631 | −37% |
| 0 | 0 | dead |
Grade thresholds lowered 5 points to compensate for structural deflation. Minimum rated base dimensions reduced from 3 to 2.
| Peg | Liquidity | Safety | Resilience | Decentralization | Dep Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| multiplier | 25% | — | 25% | 10% | 30% |
v3.3Reserve-derived collateral qualityFeb 27, 2026
For coins with curated reserve composition data, collateral quality is computed as a weighted average of per-slice risk scores instead of using the enum fallback:
| Reserve risk tier | Score |
|---|---|
| very-low | 100 |
| low | 75 |
| medium | 50 |
| high | 25 |
| very-high | 5 |
v3.2Dependency type ceilingsFeb 27, 2026
New dependency types: wrapper, mechanism, collateral (default). After blended score is computed, ceilings apply:
- wrapper → ceiling = upstream − 3
- mechanism → ceiling = upstream
- collateral → no ceiling
Prevents thin wrappers (e.g. a USDC wrapper) from scoring higher than their upstream.
v3.0Resilience 4-factor modelFeb 26, 2026
Complete redesign of Resilience from 2 factors (chain distribution + freeze rate) to 4 equal sub-factors (25% each):
| Sub-factor | Tiers & scores |
|---|---|
| Chain Risk | ethereum=100, stage1-l2=66, established-alt-l1=20, unproven=0 |
| Collateral Quality | native=100, eth-lst=66, alt-lst-bridged-or-mixed=20, rwa=50, exotic=0 |
| Custody Model | onchain=100, institutional=50, cex=0 |
| Blacklist Capability | not-blacklistable=100, possible=50, blacklistable=0 |
| Peg | Liquidity | Safety | Resilience | Decentralization | Dep Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25% | 20% | — | 20% | 10% | 25% |
v2.0Remove Safety dimensionFeb 26, 2026
Only ~20 of 142 coins had Bluechip ratings. Sparse coverage caused inconsistent weight redistribution. Safety dimension removed entirely; Bluechip display kept for informational use.
| Peg | Liquidity | Safety | Resilience | Decentralization | Dep Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25% | 25% | removed | 15% | 10% | 25% |
Other changes in the v2 era
- Self-backed CeFi-Dependent score lowered 95→75 (systemic coupling risk)
- Active-depeg cap and +3 bonus removed from peg stability (pegScore already encodes severity)
- HHI concentration penalty removed from liquidity
- Decentralization widened: decentralized 95→100, centralized-dependent 70→50, centralized 50→0
- “Possible” blacklist tier added (0/50/100 scale)
- Chain-risk penalty on decentralization: stage1-l2 −15, established-alt-l1 −50, unproven −65
v1.0Initial implementationFeb 25, 2026
Six weighted dimensions:
| Dimension | Weight | Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Peg Stability | 25% | pegScore passthrough, capped at 65 during active depeg, +3 bonus if last depeg > 12 months ago |
| Liquidity | 25% | liquidityScore from DEX data, HHI penalty (−5 if >0.5, −10 if >0.8) |
| Safety | 20% | Bluechip rating passthrough (A+=100 … F=25), NR if no rating |
| Resilience | 15% | 2-factor: chain distribution 60% + freeze rate 40% |
| Decentralization | 10% | 3-tier: decentralized=95, centralized-dependent=70, centralized=50 |
| Dependency Risk | 5% | CeFi-Dependent only, unweighted avg of upstream scores |
Grade thresholds: A+≥97, A≥93, A−≥90, B+≥85, B≥80, B−≥75, C+≥70, C≥65, C−≥60, D≥50. Minimum 3 rated dimensions required.
Day-one patches
- Dependencies switched from unweighted to weighted averages
- Dependency renormalization fix: partial backing properly penalized via self-backed blending
- Peg +3 bonus restricted to coins with actual depeg history
- NAV tokens included in grading
- Rebalanced: dependency 5%→15%, resilience 15%→10%, decentralization 10%→5%
Quick Reference
Weight evolution
| Version | Peg | Liquidity | Safety | Resilience | Decentralization | Dep Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| v1.0 | 25% | 25% | 20% | 15% | 10% | 5% |
| v1.0 patch | 25% | 25% | 20% | 10% | 5% | 15% |
| v2.0 | 25% | 25% | removed | 15% | 10% | 25% |
| v3.0 | 25% | 20% | — | 20% | 10% | 25% |
| v3.3 | 25% | 20% | — | 20% | 15% | 25% |
| v4.0 | multiplier | 25% | — | 25% | 10% | 30% |
| v4.1 | multiplier | 30% | — | 20% | 15% | 25% |
| v5.0–5.6 | multiplier | 30% | — | 20% | 15% | 25% |
Grade threshold evolution
| Grade | v1.0 | v4.0 (−5) | v5.1 (−5) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A+ | 97 | 92 | 87 |
| A | 93 | 88 | 83 |
| A− | 90 | 85 | 80 |
| B+ | 85 | 80 | 75 |
| B | 80 | 75 | 70 |
| B− | 75 | 70 | 65 |
| C+ | 70 | 65 | 60 |
| C | 65 | 60 | 55 |
| C− | 60 | 55 | 50 |
| D | 50 | 45 | 40 |
| F | 0 | 0 | 0 |