Stablecoins: a quick guide
Despite the obvious advantages of cryptocurrencies, they are still subject to high volatility, which makes it very difficult to use them as a means of payment or as a commodity. To solve this problem were created the so-called stablecoins , resistant to fluctuations in the course.
Unlike conventional cryptocurrencies, steylbcoins have a very stable rate. For the first time, the idea of ​​“stable cryptocurrency” was voiced by the Mastercoin project team in 2012. After this, several attempts were made to create a stablecoin on the basis of the euro or the yuan. However, it was possible to successfully implement the idea only three years later - it was then that the famous Tether tied to the dollar appeared on the market.
Due to its high stability, stablecoins can be an effective and convenient medium of exchange, as well as used to store savings. Optimistic experts believe that they can be a good alternative to Fiat in countries with unstable economies, as well as be used to pay wages and pensions.
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As a rule, stablecoins stability is achieved with the help of software. Most of them are backed by fiat money or various assets, such as:
In fact, a stableblock can be secured by any liquid asset, whether real estate or labor - the main thing is that it is sufficiently in demand.
In addition, there are so-called "unsecured" steyblokoiny. At the same time, the absence of volatility is achieved by issuing shares of seignorage - an old technique that has long been used by states to derive profit from increasing money supply.
At the moment, there are three main types of steaklocks on the market:
Let's look at them in more detail.
Steyblkoiny provided fiatnymi money, represent a kind of promissory note. In this case, each “coin” will be tied to a unit of fiat currency (for example, the US dollar), which acts as a pledge. The pledge is held by a third party - most often it is a depositary bank.
To get stablecoins, the user needs to deposit funds into a deposit account. For example, to buy 100 USDT (Tether) you will need to pay 100 dollars. If you want to bring the Fiat back, then the steklokoiny will be eliminated, and the money will return to you in the ratio 1: 1.
This scheme has several distinct advantages :
At the same time, steablcoins supported by Fiat have several distinct flaws :
It was about these “rakes” that Tether stumbled, who survived a sharp decline in 2017. The audit attempt carried out in September was unable to establish precisely whether the project has a stated amount of USD. Problems with the American regulator added fuel to the fire - so, in December, the CFTC sent subpoenas for Tether and the Bitfinex exchange.
The idea of ​​providing stablecoins with fiat money and interacting with traditional financial institutions was not liked by everyone. So there were steyblkoiny, backed by one or more cryptocurrencies. The first coin created under this scheme was BitUSD, which appeared back in 2013.
In order to compensate for the high volatility of the “cryptographic dialogue”, the issuer of steylcoin uses oversupply, which allows to absorb exchange rate fluctuations and keep the price stable. For example, in order to issue 100 one-dollar coins, you need to give them $ 200 of collateral in a cryptocurrency equivalent (Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.). This will allow the coin to cost 1 dollar, even with a fairly serious rate jumps.
Crypto-collateralized stablecoins are managed using the blockchain - if the price of the collateral cryptocurrency drops to a critical minimum, then the stabcoins are automatically eliminated.
This kind of steablcoin has its own advantages , such as:
At the same time, they have several drawbacks due to the volatility of the collateral:
To avoid the flaws of steyblkoinov, backed by Fiat or cryptocurrency, some developers have decided to do without bail. The stability of the rate of an unsecured coin is achieved by seignorage.
Seignorage - income, which is formed by issuing money and is assigned by the issuer. It is widely used by the state, making a profit on increasing money supply.
In order to keep the steaklokoin rate on one mark, issuers control the volume of its offer with the help of smart contracts. Coin holders at the same time receive shares for a share in the future seigniorge. This concept is called seigniorage shares. It was invented by Robert Sams in 2014 and became the basis for projects such as Basecoin and Havven.
Unsecured steables offer shareholders the following benefits :
At the same time, such coins are distinguished by the lowest stability and have several significant drawbacks :
In theory, unsecured steables can be very convenient and useful, but they need plenty of time to gain the trust of users and find the necessary balance.
Despite the obvious flaws and misses in implementation, many crypto enthusiasts are confident that the steakcoins have a great future. In particular, some experts believe that they can be a convenient tool for making real estate transactions or securities.
Others predict the role of digital incarnation of various traditional assets, including fiat money, to the stablecoin. However, this requires close interaction between traditional and cryptocurrency trading platforms.
What is steyblecoin?
Unlike conventional cryptocurrencies, steylbcoins have a very stable rate. For the first time, the idea of ​​“stable cryptocurrency” was voiced by the Mastercoin project team in 2012. After this, several attempts were made to create a stablecoin on the basis of the euro or the yuan. However, it was possible to successfully implement the idea only three years later - it was then that the famous Tether tied to the dollar appeared on the market.
Due to its high stability, stablecoins can be an effective and convenient medium of exchange, as well as used to store savings. Optimistic experts believe that they can be a good alternative to Fiat in countries with unstable economies, as well as be used to pay wages and pensions.
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How it works?
As a rule, stablecoins stability is achieved with the help of software. Most of them are backed by fiat money or various assets, such as:
- precious metals;
- cryptocurrency;
- SDR;
- oil;
- diamonds.
In fact, a stableblock can be secured by any liquid asset, whether real estate or labor - the main thing is that it is sufficiently in demand.
In addition, there are so-called "unsecured" steyblokoiny. At the same time, the absence of volatility is achieved by issuing shares of seignorage - an old technique that has long been used by states to derive profit from increasing money supply.
At the moment, there are three main types of steaklocks on the market:
- secured by fiat-collateralized ;
- secured by cryptocurrency ( crypto-collateralized );
- unsecured ( non-collateralized ).
Let's look at them in more detail.
1. Fiat-collateralized
Steyblkoiny provided fiatnymi money, represent a kind of promissory note. In this case, each “coin” will be tied to a unit of fiat currency (for example, the US dollar), which acts as a pledge. The pledge is held by a third party - most often it is a depositary bank.
To get stablecoins, the user needs to deposit funds into a deposit account. For example, to buy 100 USDT (Tether) you will need to pay 100 dollars. If you want to bring the Fiat back, then the steklokoiny will be eliminated, and the money will return to you in the ratio 1: 1.
This scheme has several distinct advantages :
- 100% price stability;
- simplicity;
- high resistance to hacking and hacker attacks.
At the same time, steablcoins supported by Fiat have several distinct flaws :
- Centralization. Given that the security deposit is held by a third party, the custodian must be 100% secure - otherwise, the money may be stolen trivially. In addition, this makes the project virtually defenseless in front of the state - problems with the government can result in serious losses for investors.
- The need for an audit. To make sure that stablecoins are really supported by the stated number of Fiat, regular checks by independent auditors are necessary.
- Strict regulation. Linking to fiat money causes a high degree of regulation on the part of the state and various financial institutions.
- Difficult withdrawal of fiat money. Swapping Steablocoins for Fiat is a very long and expensive process, especially in comparison with traditional cryptocurrencies.
It was about these “rakes” that Tether stumbled, who survived a sharp decline in 2017. The audit attempt carried out in September was unable to establish precisely whether the project has a stated amount of USD. Problems with the American regulator added fuel to the fire - so, in December, the CFTC sent subpoenas for Tether and the Bitfinex exchange.
2. Crypto-collateralized
The idea of ​​providing stablecoins with fiat money and interacting with traditional financial institutions was not liked by everyone. So there were steyblkoiny, backed by one or more cryptocurrencies. The first coin created under this scheme was BitUSD, which appeared back in 2013.
In order to compensate for the high volatility of the “cryptographic dialogue”, the issuer of steylcoin uses oversupply, which allows to absorb exchange rate fluctuations and keep the price stable. For example, in order to issue 100 one-dollar coins, you need to give them $ 200 of collateral in a cryptocurrency equivalent (Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.). This will allow the coin to cost 1 dollar, even with a fairly serious rate jumps.
Crypto-collateralized stablecoins are managed using the blockchain - if the price of the collateral cryptocurrency drops to a critical minimum, then the stabcoins are automatically eliminated.
This kind of steablcoin has its own advantages , such as:
- decentralization;
- fast and cheap exchange for cryptocurrency;
- high transparency provided by the blockchain;
- the ability to create financial leverage.
At the same time, they have several drawbacks due to the volatility of the collateral:
- less stability than fiat-backed coins;
- automatic elimination of stablecoins when the market falls;
- inefficient use of collateral capital (the need for re-provision);
- higher complexity than fiat steblecocoins.
3. Non-collateralized
To avoid the flaws of steyblkoinov, backed by Fiat or cryptocurrency, some developers have decided to do without bail. The stability of the rate of an unsecured coin is achieved by seignorage.
Seignorage - income, which is formed by issuing money and is assigned by the issuer. It is widely used by the state, making a profit on increasing money supply.
In order to keep the steaklokoin rate on one mark, issuers control the volume of its offer with the help of smart contracts. Coin holders at the same time receive shares for a share in the future seigniorge. This concept is called seigniorage shares. It was invented by Robert Sams in 2014 and became the basis for projects such as Basecoin and Havven.
Unsecured steables offer shareholders the following benefits :
- decentralization;
- no need for collateral and related problems.
At the same time, such coins are distinguished by the lowest stability and have several significant drawbacks :
- high complexity;
- unpredictability;
- vulnerability to market decline;
- need for stable demand and growth.
In theory, unsecured steables can be very convenient and useful, but they need plenty of time to gain the trust of users and find the necessary balance.
What are the prospects for steyblecoin?
Despite the obvious flaws and misses in implementation, many crypto enthusiasts are confident that the steakcoins have a great future. In particular, some experts believe that they can be a convenient tool for making real estate transactions or securities.
Others predict the role of digital incarnation of various traditional assets, including fiat money, to the stablecoin. However, this requires close interaction between traditional and cryptocurrency trading platforms.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/358492/
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