Governance
Version 1.0Effective: 11 September 2026Last reviewed: 11 September 2026
How Stable Tape makes and records decisions.
Stable Tape publishes a governed daily record of the onchain dollar system. This page explains who can change the rules, how constituent decisions are made, what happens when something is uncertain, and why historical records are not silently rewritten.
In plain English: if a rule changes tomorrow, we do not pretend that rule existed yesterday.
01 · In plain English
The basic rules
Stable Tape follows five principles. They apply to every decision described on this page, from a routine constituent addition to a correction of a published record.
- Changes apply from their stated effective date, not backwards.
- Published historical records are not silently rewritten.
- Missing data stays missing. We do not invent continuity.
- If an important requirement is not met, we would rather withhold a reading than publish something weaker.
- Material decisions should leave a dated, inspectable record.
02 · The formal rule
How decisions are made
The sections below restate the same five principles as operating rules: who can act, what a constituent decision requires, and how an uncertain day is handled.
Who can change the rules
Rule changes are made by Stable Tape, are dated, and apply prospectively only.
Rule changes are made by Stable Tape, are dated, and apply prospectively only.
Stable Tape's methodology, governance standard and fixing standard are maintained by Stable Tape. There is no external committee, panel or oversight body attached to these documents, and none is implied by anything published here or elsewhere on the site.
Sponsors, partners and data providers have no role in setting or approving these rules. Appearing as a supporter of Stable Tape, or as a source Stable Tape reads from, carries no influence over methodology, governance or fixing decisions.
A rule change is dated and takes effect from that date forward. It does not reach back to reinterpret a record already published under the prior rule. See why historical records are not rewritten below.
How constituent decisions are made
Adding, correcting or withholding a constituent follows the same evidence standard as a daily fixing.
Adding, correcting or withholding a constituent follows the same evidence standard as a daily fixing.
A stablecoin, issuer or chain is admitted to the published record only where its identity and supply figures can be established to the standard the Methodology sets out. Where that standard is not met, the constituent is withheld rather than admitted on a provisional or best-effort basis.
A correction to a constituent's classification (its issuer, chain or currency grouping) is dated and applied from that date forward in the same way as any other rule change. It is recorded on Transparency rather than applied retroactively to already-published dates.
What happens when something is uncertain
An uncertain observation is held, not guessed, and the outcome is recorded either way.
An uncertain observation is held, not guessed, and the outcome is recorded either way.
A large or unexplained change in the source data, or a new name that has not been seen before, is held for review rather than published automatically. Where review finds the observation genuine, the day is published; where it does not, the reading is withheld. Either outcome is recorded and tied to the record by hash. The Fixing Standard sets out the exact outcomes a fixing can produce.
Stable Tape does not fill a gap, carry a figure forward, or quietly close a day that produced no reading. A missing or withheld reading is part of the published record, not an omission from it.
Why historical records are not silently rewritten
A published record is written once. A correction is a new, dated entry alongside it, not an edit to it.
A published record is written once. A correction is a new, dated entry alongside it, not an edit to it.
Each canonical daily record is frozen and hashed at the time it is published. If new information later shows a figure needed correcting, the original record stays published exactly as it was, and the correction is published separately with its own date, on Transparency. A reader who cited the original record by its dated permalink can always verify what was actually said on that date.
03 · Technical detail
Versioning and change log
This standard is versioned explicitly, in the same spirit as the documented methodology versions maintained by other market-data providers.
- Document
- Governance Standard
- Version
- 1.0
- Effective
- 11 September 2026
- Last reviewed
- 11 September 2026
Changes to this standard will be dated. Changes affecting future decisions apply prospectively. Where a change is substantive, it will be noted on Transparency with the date it took effect.