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Price Stabilization: set the rate. 1:1, exactly. Anything in, exactly what you quoted out. You absorb the small variance; users don’t. Stablecoins don’t actually trade at exactly 1:1. Market rates drift around the peg, and fees come out of the flow, so $100 of USDC in becomes 99.95 or 100.05 USDT out. For trading, that’s noise. For payments, it reads as an error: a dollar in should be a dollar out. Price Stabilization lets you fix the rate. Set 1:1 on the quote and your user receives exactly what the rate says: 100 in, 100 out, whatever the market is doing. You absorb the small difference between your fixed rate and the market—sometimes covering a few cents, sometimes earning them—with the expectation that it nets out over time. The rate is yours to set. Fix it at 1:1.0005 and you’ve built 5 bps of pricing into every swap instead. It completes the 1:1 stablecoin story: fee sponsorship covers the fees, while fixed rates lock the rate. Stablecoin pairs make this affordable because swap impact between major stablecoins is typically under 1 bps, so what you absorb is small and predictable.

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How It Works

  1. Set the rate on the quote (fixedRate: "1:1") alongside fee sponsorship.
  2. Transact: The user sends 100 and receives exactly 100.
  3. Absorb: The gap between your rate and the market lands on your balance in both directions.
  4. Net out: Over time, the variance washes. Monitor your balance during peg deviations.

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Why It Matters

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For Integrators

  • A price you can print. Quote 1:1 in your product and mean it on every transaction.
  • Predictable, not charitable. You absorb basis points that cut both ways and net out, rather than paying a permanent subsidy.
  • Your pricing, built in. Set the rate above 1:1 and stabilization doubles as your spread.

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For Your Users

  • A dollar is a dollar. 100 in, 100 out, every time.
  • No decimal surprises. The amount quoted is the amount received.

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Who It’s For

  • Payment service providers: Merchants price in dollars, and settlement should match the price. Fixed rates make 1:1 stablecoin settlement something you can put in your product, not just your pitch.
  • On- and off-ramps: A deposit quoted at 100shouldcreditas100 should credit as 100. Fixed rates remove the reconciliation noise between what users send and what they’re credited.
  • Wallets and wallet infrastructure: Stablecoin conversions inside the wallet should feel like moving money, not trading. 1:1 makes the balance do what users expect.

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What to Watch

Fixed rates are supported between major stablecoins (USDC, USDC.e, USDT, USDe, USDH, mUSD, and DAI). When your fixed rate is above the market rate, monitor for arbitrage: a rate that deviates from the market can be drained. Worked examples and rate mechanics are in the guide below. For the full 1:1 experience, pair fixed rates with fee sponsorship to cover fees and deposit addresses so users have nothing to connect or sign.

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Price Stabilization Options

Relay supports multiple options for stabilizing prices for better UX:

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Fee Sponsorship

With sponsorship, you cover the fees. So for $100 USDC in, the user gets $100 USDT out, and you cover the $0.03 in fees. Importantly, this doesn’t mean the user gets 1:1 in our USDC:USDT example: If 1 USDT = 1.0000 USDC, that’s 100 USDT out
If 1 USDT = 0.9995 USDC, that’s 100.05 USDT out
If 1 USDT = 1.0005 USDC, that’s 99.95 USDT out
Learn more about how fee sponsorship works.

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Fixed Rates

If your goal is to give the user 1:1, you can use fixed rates. In this case, the user would always get 100 USDT, and you would sponsor a dynamic amount. If USDT is worth less than USDC, you actually would earn the difference as fees: If 1 USDT = 1.0000 USDC, user gets 100 USDT, you sponsor $0.03
If 1 USDT = 0.9995 USDC, user gets 100 USDT, you earn $0.02
If 1 USDT = 1.0005 USDC, user gets 100 USDT, you sponsor $0.08 Effectively, you absorb the volatility, sometimes sponsoring, and sometimes earning fees, with the idea that it nets out over a long time period. Of course, during periods you are sponsoring, you need to be careful that it’s not being arbitraged.
During periods where you are sponsoring the spread, monitor for arbitrage. A fixed rate that deviates from the market can be drained by arbitrageurs.
If you want, you can set rates other than 1:1. E.g. if you set it to 1:1.0005, then you are effectively setting the price to 5bps, and only sponsoring when the market rate + fees is above that. The rate is expressed as “input:output”. If 1 USDT = 1.0000 USDC, user gets 99.95 USDT, you earn $0.02
If 1 USDT = 0.9995 USDC, user gets 99.95 USDT, you earn $0.07
If 1 USDT = 1.0005 USDC, user gets 99.95 USDT, you sponsor $0.03 Fixed rates work for all stablecoins that Relay holds as solver currencies — common examples include USDC, USDC.e, USDT, USDe, USDH, mUSD, and DAI. Solver currencies vary by chain: to check which stablecoins are supported on a given chain, call the chains API and inspect that chain’s solverCurrencies array. For example, on MegaETH the solver holds USDT and USDm, so fixed rates work for both.

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Why This Works for Stablecoins

Stablecoin pairs are uniquely suited to price stabilization because the swap impact component of Relay’s fees is typically sub 1bps between major stablecoins. That leaves the flat execution fee (~$0.02) and the Relay bps fee as the dominant costs — both small, predictable amounts that are cheap to sponsor or absorb into a fixed rate. For a full breakdown of Relay’s fee components and pricing tiers, see Relay Fees.