Stablecoins have garnered serious investor attention over the past few weeks. Unlike bitcoin and similar cryptocurrencies, they are digital assets built to lessen price volatility and are often paired against the U.S. dollar or established commodities like gold. Volatility is one of the main reasons why several institutional investors and individuals have thought twice about stepping into the cryptocurrency arena, and stablecoins seek to make things a little less frightening.
Cryptocurrency firm Blockchain[1] has released a report examining the growth of the stablecoin trend, the differences between the growing number of stablecoins in circulation, and whether they truly work to lower volatility in the market.
In total, 57 stablecoins were examined, including Tether, TrueUSD, Dai and Digix Gold Token. About 26 of these stablecoins — roughly 45 percent — are live, while the remainder are in pre-launch phases. The number of active stablecoin projects has increased heavily over the past 12 to 18 months, and more than a dozen separate ventures have issued plans to launch new stablecoins by the end of the year.
The report states that most stablecoins can be separated into two categories: asset-backed and algorithmic (coins that have implemented a central banking platform to keep prices sturdy). Roughly 77 percent of those observed are asset-backed, with USD being the primary asset of choice amongst 66 percent of them. Most of the tokens — roughly 54 percent — utilize on-chain collateral.
More than 50 percent of the stablecoins offer “dividends” or have incentive mechanisms built into their designs; these already make up a healthy portion of the digital asset arena. Tether, for example, is now the second most traded digital asset after bitcoin and lists among the top ten cryptocurrencies by market value. It also accounts for nearly 98 percent of stablecoin trading. Many of these
