End of Year Review: Stablecoin Ecosystem
5 datavisualizations to digest this year’s developments.
How many stablecoin projects are out there?
We began the year with 30 stablecoin projects, with 9 live and trading for a combined market cap of ~ $US 1.5bn. We close the year with over 160 stablecoin projects, 28 of which are live and trading for a combined market cap of $ US 2.7bn.
Governmental Stablecoins:
Entrepreneurs, programmers and banks were not the only ones that got into stablecoins this year. We learned from the IMF of 15 Central Banks working on Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC), and there are at least another 5 that were not mentioned in the report.
Which Blockchain?
Of the 28 stablecoins currently trading, 14 run exclusively on Ethereum, followed by Stellar at 3 and EOS at 2 . The others run on other or various protocols.
$3 Billion Market Cap:
Centralized, fiat-backed projects are the most common type of stablecoin traded, probably because technological developments and consumer trust are not yet ripe enough for the other flavors.
Untethering Trust:
It is believed that the explosion of stablecoins in 2018 was correlated to the fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) surrounding Tether’s collateral and solvency. Whether or not they are solvent, their market dominance significantly declined from 91% of total stablecoin market share, to 69% today. The biggest winners of Tether’s market share are USDC, TUSD and Paxos — all of which are under the same category: centralized, fiat-backed stablecoins.
Building Trust:
Consumers and businesses won’t use a payment method unless it is used and accepted by most people. Stablecoins pegged to the USD, Euro, Peso or Yuan should trade at par with each other respectively because they have the same price of the asset they represent in the real world. This is fundamental and precisely what we are building at CementDAO: community whitelisted stablecoins through decentralized governance, enabling users to use any dollar on the blockchain, without worrying about which dollar-pegged stablecoin to buy.
We are invested in stablecoins and so should you. Everyone excited about cryptocurrencies should be excited about stablecoins and where the road may lead. From technology and community to governance and education, all areas need the support of stakeholders in the stablecoin universe. Ten years after bitcoin, it is time to build concrete foundations for the decentralized internet, else that future may never come. Join us, pour cement on!
