A Stablecoin is a cryptocurrency that is designed to fluctuate as little as possible from a specific value. That value pegs to that of another asset, such as the US Dollar or gold. Stablecoins are therefore ideal for payment, exchange and trade settlement. Note that Bitcoin can’t be used today as cash for everyday life because of its huge volatility: a token only becomes a currency once it is used by markets as a store of value and means of exchange…
They all promise to provides enough liquidity to operate at the volume of real-world markets and therefore could bridge the gap between conventional and digital economies and significantly increase the technology’s widespread adoption.
Note that of today few of them proved to be resistant to market forces (speculators). Below is a non-exhaustive list of Stablecoins that are all live.
Stablecoins using FIAT as collateral
Asset backed cryptocurrencies are coins that are stabilized by assets that fluctuate outside of the cryptocurrency space. You need to trust the 3rd party that hold the collateral (Tether)
- AAA Reserve
- Tether – USDT – Tether converts cash into digital currency, to anchor or tether the value to the price of national currencies like the US dollar, the Euro, and the Yen.
- TrustToken – TrueUSD – backed by the US Dollar.
- Circle – USDC – The initial implementation is USD Coin (USDC)
- Stably – USDS backed by the US Dollar.
- X8X – X8Currency is the only digital currency that offers an alternative to value preservation assets. An AI trades 8 currencies and gold in its basket to fight inflation whilst remaining fully liquid and cash backed.
- Globcoin – GLX is linked to a currency basket of 15 fiat currencies plus gold.
- Stasis – The EURS stablecoin combines the benefits of blockchain technology with the reputation and relative stability of the euro.
- Stronghold – Stronghold is the Stellar network’s first official, venture-backed USD anchor.
- Gemini Dollar – GUSD is backed by the US Dollar.
- Paxos Standard – PAX is backed by the US Dollar 1:1 and use Ethereum ERC-20 token.
Stablecoins using Cryptocurrency as collateral
- Bitshares BitUSD – BitUSD is backed by the US Dollar 1:1
- MakerDAO – DAI – DAI maintains a price close to $1 by using a system of smart contracts and Ethereum (Ether, ETH) as collateral.
- Sweetbridge – Bridgecoin (BRC) is minted when required for payments and exchanges backed by assets, and burned when used to redeem or unlock these collaterals. It uses a combination of monetary policy and market making to keep it very close to the value of the commodity or fiat it is denominated in, i.e. a dollar, a euro or later, other agreed-upon asset classes like bonds, gold, oil or other goods.
- Havven – NUSD – Synths are tokens that provide exposure to assets such as gold, Bitcoin, U.S. Dollars, TESLA, and AAPL within the Ethereum blockchain.
- Augmint – A-EUR is backed by the Euro 1:1
Stablecoins using an algorithm
Dubbed the next generation of Stablecoin, maintaining fiat-price pegs in an asset less manner , but with innovative money supply mechanisms such as autonomous coin burning and minting. They are sometimes also called autonomously stabilized crypto currency if they are using smart contract and are truly decentralized. They are considered the holy grail of stable-coins (as designing one that work properly has not been seen yet)
- Basis project is dead since 13 Dec 2018. USA regulation forced owner to stop ICO
- Carbon – USD-Backed Stablecoin on TRON
- Fragments – the Ampleforth protocol directly propagates price-information to each token owner through the count in their token balances. By expanding to and contracting from coin holders directly, a given user’s percent ownership remains fixed unless the user chooses to sell or buy more. Whitepaper
- Kowala – Exit scam company has gone “bankrupt” with zero explanation or transparency regarding ICO funds or anything to it’s community.
- Terra is a protocol of money that ensures price-stability by algorithmically expanding and contracting supply. Terra is backed by Luna, the mining token that powers Terra’s DPoS blockchain. Miners therefore provide stability and security. In exchange, the protocol offers stable mining rewards from transaction fees and seigniorage in all economic conditions.
- StableUnit is a decentralized cryptocurrency that is stable. 1SU = 1USD. StableUnit has automatic mechanisms that stabilize the price no matter what is happening in the markets. Like an open-source bank controlled by every user via voting and with no central authority. The system uses a decentralized crypto reserve which fully backs the StableUnits in circulation. Users can buy SU from the reserve or on the open market. The reserve charges a small fee when buying or selling SU. The longer the system exists – the more collateral it accumulates. This reserve is fully decentralized and nobody has access to it. The only way to get assets from the reserve is to pay SU for it. The only way to create new SU is to buy it from the reserve. It utilizes multiple layers of stabilization mechanisms. When one layer cannot handle a price/demand shock, instead of the system failing, the next layer kicks in.
- The Reserve protocol mints, sells, buys, and burns RSV as needed to adjust the circulating supply, while RSR holders facilitate necessary arbitrage and provide an additional collateralization buffer.
- Saga – allows both buying and selling SGA from/to the smart contract.
Stablecoins using rare metal as collateral
- DaVinci TOKEN – The DaVinci 24K Pure Gold Coin has its digital representation as a unique DaVinci non fungible TOKEN on Ethereum (ERC-721)
- Digix Global – 1 DGX represents 1 gram of gold on Ethereum.
- HelloGold – GOLDX to buy gold within the Ethereum blockchain.
- RMG Gold – Project stopped Royal Mint Gold, or RMG, was a blockchain being developed by the United Kingdom’s Royal Mint. Each token of RMG was to represent one gram of physical gold held in the vaults of the Royal Mint
Want more? read Wikipedia and Consensys article The State of Stablecoins, 2019 and BlockData report
