Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies where the price is designed to be pegged to a reference asset. The reference asset may be fiat money, exchange-traded commodities (such as precious metals or industrial metals), or a cryptocurrency.[1]

Background

Stablecoins have a number of purposes. Primarily, they can be used for payments. Furthermore, cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and altcoins are highly volatile. Holders cannot escape widespread price falls without exiting the market or taking refuge in stablecoins.

Stablecoins are typically non-interest bearing.

Reserve-backed stablecoins

Reserve-backed cryptocurrencies are coins that are stabilized by assets.[2] Furthermore, such coins, assuming they are managed in good faith, and have a mechanism for redeeming the asset(s) backing them, are unlikely to drop below the value of the underlying physical asset, due to arbitrage.

Backed stablecoins are subject to the same volatility and risk associated with the backing asset. If the backed stablecoin is backed in a decentralized manner, then they are relatively safe from predation, but if there is a central vault, they may be robbed, or suffer loss of confidence.[3]

Fiat backing

The value of stablecoins of this type is based on the value of the backing currency, which is held by a third-party–regulated financial entity. In this setting, the trust in the custodian of the backing asset is crucial for the stability of price of the stablecoin. Fiat-backed stablecoins can be traded on exchanges and are redeemable from the issuer. The cost of maintaining the stability of the stablecoin is equivalent to the cost of maintaining the backing reserve and the cost of legal compliance, maintaining licenses, auditors and the business infrastructure required by the regulator.

Cryptocurrencies backed by fiat currency are the most common and were the first type of stablecoins on the market. Their characteristics are:

Examples: TrueUSD (TUSD),[4] USD Tether (USDT),[5] USD Coin.

Commodity backing

The main characteristics of backed stablecoins are:

Holders of commodity-backed stablecoins can redeem their stablecoins at the conversion rate to take possession of real assets. The cost of maintaining the stability of the stablecoin is the cost of storing and protecting the commodity backing.

Cryptocurrency backing

Cryptocurrency-backed stablecoins are issued with cryptocurrencies as collateral, which is conceptually similar to fiat-backed stablecoins. However, the significant difference between the two designs is that while fiat collateralization typically happens off the blockchain, the cryptocurrency or crypto asset used to back this type of stablecoins is done on the blockchain, using smart contracts in a more decentralized fashion. In many cases, these work by allowing users to take out a loan against a smart contract via locking up collateral, making it more worthwhile to pay off their debt should the stablecoin ever decrease in value. To prevent sudden crashes, a user who takes out a loan may be liquidated by the smart contract should their collateral decrease too close to the value of their withdrawal.

Significant features of crypto-backed stablecoins are:

The technical implementation of this type of stablecoins is more complex and varied than that of the fiat-collateralized kind which introduces a greater risks of exploits due to bugs in the smart contract code. With the tethering done on-chain, it is not subject to third-party regulation creating a decentralized solution. The potentially problematic aspect of this type of stablecoins is the change in value of the collateral and the reliance on supplementary instruments. The complexity and non-direct backing of the stablecoin may deter usage, as it may be difficult to comprehend how the price is actually ensured. Due to the nature of the highly volatile and convergent cryptocurrency market, a very large collateral must also be maintained to ensure the stability.

Live stablecoins projects of this type are Havven (the pair: nUSD – stablecoin and HAV – the collateral-backed nUSD),[6] DAI (pair: CDP – Collateralized Debt Position and MKR – governance token used to control the supply)[7] and others. There is also Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), see BitGo.

Seigniorage-style/algorithmic stablecoins (not backed)

Seigniorage-style coins, also known as algorithmic stablecoins, utilize algorithms to control the stablecoin's money supply, similar to a central bank's approach to printing and destroying currency. Seigniorage-based stablecoins are a less popular form of stablecoin.[8]

Significant features of seigniorage-style stablecoins are:[8]

Basis was one example of a seigniorage-style coin.[8]

TerraUSD (UST), created by Do Kwon, was meant to maintain a 1:1 peg with the United States dollar.[9] Instead of being backed by dollars, UST was designed to keep its peg through a complex system connected with another Terra network token, Terra (LUNA).[10] In May 2022 UST broke its peg with its price plunging to 10 cents,[11] while LUNA fell to "virtually zero", down from an all-time high of $119.51.[12] The collapse wiped out almost $45 billion of market capitalization over the course of a week.[13]

On 13 June 2022, Tron's algorithmic stablecoin, USDD, lost its peg to the US Dollar.[14]

Criticisms

Tether, the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, has faced accusations of being unable to provide audits for their reserves while continually printing millions; many have attributed their unverifiable creation of new coins to Bitcoin's rise in price in 2017.[15]

Failed and abandoned stablecoin projects

The stablecoin project Basis, which had received over $100 million in venture capital funding, shut down in December 2018, citing concerns about US regulation.[16]

Stablecoins can be prone to failure as well due to volatility and upkeep required in many cases.[citation needed]

Diem (formerly Libra) was abandoned by Facebook/Meta.

Social advantages

The Bank of International Settlements lists the possible merits of the subject as enhancement of anti-money laundering efforts, operational resilience, customer data protection, financial inclusion, tax compliance, and cybersecurity.[17] Nellie Liang, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance reported to the Senate banking committee that the rapid growth of the stablecoin market capitalization and its potential for financial services innovation require urgent congressional regulation.[18]

References

  1. ^ "Rise of Crypto Market's Quiet Giants Has Big Market Implications". Bloomberg.com. 19 March 2021.
  2. ^ "Stable Coin Backed by Circle, Coinbase Draws Most Early Demand". Bloomberg.com. 29 October 2018.
  3. ^ "Gold-Pegged Vs. USD-Pegged Cryptocurrencies". Investopedia. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  4. ^ "Why Facebook Chose Stablecoins as Its Path to Crypto". Bloomberg. January 27, 2019. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  5. ^ Tether. "Tether: Fiat currencies on the Bitcoin blockchain" (PDF). Tether: Fiat Currencies on the Bitcoin Blockchain: 7. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
  6. ^ Brooks, Samuel; Jurisevic, Anton; Spain, Michael; Warwick, Kain (2018-06-11). "A decentralised payment network and stablecoin" (PDF). A Decentralised Payment Network and Stablecoin V0.8: 6–9.
  7. ^ "The Dai Stablecoin System". Retrieved 2018-10-23.
  8. ^ a b c Memon, Bilal (23 August 2018). "Guide to Stablecoin: Types of Stablecoins & Its Importance". Retrieved 22 Oct 2018.
  9. ^ "Controversial stablecoin UST — which is meant to be pegged to the dollar — plummets below 50 cents". CNBC. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  10. ^ "Yellen cites UST stablecoin risk after it loses its dollar peg". Protocol. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  11. ^ "The crypto crash rivals both the internet bubble burst and the Great Financial Crisis, Bank of America says". Fortune. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  12. ^ "Terraform Again Halts Blockchain Behind UST Stablecoin, Luna". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  13. ^ "Terra $45 Billion Face Plant Creates Crowd of Crypto Losers". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  14. ^ "Another algorithmic stablecoin loses its peg as Tron's USDD falls, with founder Justin Sun vowing to deploy $2 billion". Fortune. Retrieved 2022-06-14.
  15. ^ "Without this bitcoin price would collapse". NewsComAu. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
  16. ^ "Cryptocurrency project Basis to shut down and return funding to investors". Reuters. 13 Dec 2018. Retrieved 30 Dec 2018.
  17. ^ G7Working Group on Stablecoins. Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructure. (18 October 2019). "CPMI Papers: Investigating the impact of global stablecoins". Bank of International Settlements website Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  18. ^ Allyson Versprille and Jesse Hamilton. (8 February 2022). "Treasury Official Says the Need for Stablecoin Legislation Is ‘Urgent’". Bloomberg website Retrieved 21 February 2022.
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