Tether (USDT) is 361068.6× the size of DeFi (DEFI) by market capitalisation. Their daily returns move barely in opposite directions (correlation -0.04 across 44 shared trading days). DEFI has been the more volatile of the two, at 2465% annualised against USDT's 1%.
DEFIUSDT
-0.04over 44 shared trading days
Measured on daily returns rather than on prices. Two assets that both simply trend upward score near 1.0 on raw prices whether or not they move together, so returns are what answer the question people mean by correlation.
| Metric | DEFI | USDT |
|---|---|---|
| Max drawdown (400d) | -91.7% | -0.2% |
| Risk-adjusted return (90d) | -0.01 | 0.03 |
Relative strength over 90 days: DEFI outperformed USDT by 7.6% — measured on the DEFI/USDT ratio, so it holds regardless of market direction.