Why do I always get slightly less USDC than the USDT I put in
You get slightly less USDC than the USDT you put in because the exchange rate between USDT and USDC is never exactly 1:1, and a small spread plus a network fee are deducted during the swap. This is not a bug or a hidden charge; it is how any currency conversion works, including between two stablecoins.
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You send from your own wallet straight to the exchanger — nothing to connect, no account, and you stay on this page throughout. Rates are indicative until a swap is opened.
The swap is carried out by an independent exchanger and the deposit address above is theirs. merrychristmassol.xyz never holds, receives or controls your funds, has no key to that address, and earns a referral commission. Opening a swap sends your receiving address, IP, browser and timezone to the exchanger for their compliance checks; we store none of it. Check their terms, fees and country restrictions before sending anything.
Both USDT and USDC are pegged to the US dollar, but they are separate tokens issued by different companies. The market price of USDT can drift a few basis points above or below $1, and the same is true for USDC. When you swap USDT for USDC, the exchanger uses the live market rate, not a fixed 1:1. If USDT is trading at $1.001 and USDC at $0.999, you will naturally receive fewer USDC tokens for your USDT. The difference is usually tiny - often 0.1% to 0.3% - but it is real.
On top of the rate difference, there are swap fees. The exchanger takes a small cut, typically under 0.5%, to cover its costs and make a profit. If you are swapping across blockchains (for example, USDT on Tron to USDC on Ethereum), you also pay a network fee. That fee is deducted from the swapped amount, not added on top, so the final USDC balance you see is after the fee has been paid.
Another common reason is that stablecoins are not perfectly liquid in every pair or on every chain. If the liquidity pool for the USDT - USDC pair on a particular network is shallow, the price impact of your trade will be larger. A small trade might shift the price against you, and you will get a worse rate. Larger swaps on thin pools produce bigger slippage.
Some people mistake the peg for a legal guarantee. It is not. The peg is maintained by arbitrageurs and market demand, and it can temporarily break. If you check the price on a major data aggregator before swapping, you will see the real market rate. That rate, plus the fee, is what determines your output.
Do not confuse the swap itself with the value after you cash out. The hub page "Swapping into and out of stablecoins" covers the broader picture of moving between volatile assets and these pegged tokens. For this specific USDT-to-USDC swap, the answer is straightforward: the market rate is not fixed, fees exist, and both factors reduce your received amount.
If you are swapping repeatedly, the small losses accumulate. Consider whether you really need to move between these two stablecoins at all. Many users hold both for different purposes and only swap when necessary. Checking the live rate and estimated output before confirming the swap lets you decide if the cost is worth it.
The difference is irritating but normal. No exchanger is cheating you. The tokens are not identical, and the market treats them as separate instruments. Plan for that small haircut every time, and you will not be surprised.
Not financial advice. merrychristmassol.xyz publishes market data and general information about Merry Christmas. Crypto assets are volatile and you can lose everything you put in. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy, sell or hold, and we make no price predictions.
Prices are sourced from third parties and may be delayed or wrong. Verify anything you intend to act on against a primary source.