What Are Stablecoins?

The Coin Times
3 min readApr 6, 2022
What Are Stablecoins?

Stablecoin refers to a cryptocurrency that uses a reserve asset as a means of stabilising the price of the currency. Because they try to combine the best of both worlds — the quick processing, security, and privacy of payments provided by cryptocurrencies with the volatility-free, stable values provided by fiat currencies, stablecoins have increased in popularity.

There are several types of stablecoins, which may be used to store assets such as fiat currency or other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Because it’s a tokenized representation of the assets, easy pass transactions, better arbitrage, and value exchange are all made possible.

A utility token is often referred to because it enables the user to purchase and sell on decentralised exchanges that do not accept fiat currency.

Because cash takes longer to process than tokens, this may be helpful in the centralization of trade processes. It is a cryptocurrency that is linked to the US dollar or commodities such as gold.
What is the significance of stablecoins?
Using the USDC as an example, the stablecoin is supported by dollar-denominated assets in segregated accounts with US-regulated financial institutions that are at least equivalent to the USDC’s fair market value.

USDC is now based on the Ethereum blockchain, much like many other stablecoins. While non-pegged cryptocurrencies might be volatile, stablecoins can retain some of their most potent features:

Anybody on the internet can access stablecoins at any time of day or night. They’re Internet-native and programmable in digital form.
Cryptocurrency values are influenced by stablecoins

Furthermore, they are not constrained by political, social, or economic factors of any kind. Due to their reliance on market supply and demand, these currencies may be highly volatile.

The lack of public (institutional or individual) confidence in cryptocurrencies as a dependable and balanced currency choice is both a cause and a consequence of this volatility.

As a resultof this mistrust, poor and ambiguous regulation plays a role. Cryptocurrency is seen as a speculative investment since there is no established framework to govern its adoption.

Because of the widespread mistrust in cryptocurrencies, investors choose to use stablecoins as a fallback.

Unlike cryptocurrencies, stablecoins have a stable value since they are based on the value of a real currency rather than a virtual one. Stablecoins may give both parties a great deal of contract solidity.

There is no central authority behind these stablecoins. The corporation may issue tokens by placing an equivalent quantity of fiat currency in the reserve.

Such coins are staked in the sense that they are locked in the network and may be used to validate transactions in the future. The owner of the asset, who is unable to use it for a period of time, will get new tokens in exchange.
How can you buy stablecoins?
You must have a cryptocurrency exchange account or a digital wallet where you may purchase cryptocurrency directly to purchase stablecoins. You should verify that the services you desire are available in your area before making a purchase or signing up for a subscription.

Stablecoin exchanges such as Coinbase may list stablecoins, but only fiat-backed stablecoins are available. Stablecoins may be traded for tokens on a decentralised market, which gives you additional alternatives.

Source

https://twitter.com/Terralytics1/status/1509243002056814599?s=20&t=L6TnybyjogdrLr1hOVUZEg
Stablecoins have a variety of applications

Reducing the level of volatility. The value of a token can’t increase or fall unexpectedly if it isn’t tied to a more stable currency, but to an asset that it can.

Assets may be traded or saved in one of two ways. It is possible to send stable coins’ values anywhere across the world, even in countries where the U.S. dollar is difficult to get or where the country’s currency is volatile.

great profit. Stablecoin investments may provide interest that is greater than what you would get from a bank.

Make a low-cost money transfer. A million dollars worth of USDC has been transferred for less than a dollar’s worth of transfer fees in the past.

Stablecoins like USDC, which have minimal transaction fees and fast processing, are ideal for transporting money over the globe.

https://twitter.com/AndersonAR_66/status/1508971306242433027?s=20&t=L6TnybyjogdrLr1hOVUZEg
Conclusion
Many people perceive stablecoins as a safe haven, but the harm they do to other cryptocurrencies must also be taken into account. In the event that major whales go down the market, they are able to achieve a substantial price drop in the cryptocurrency market while also committing themselves to Stablecoin.

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