Two Years in Operation: How STASIS made EURS a #1 NON-USD stablecoin

Outstanding and life-changing inventions already mark the start of the XXI century. It’s a time of great innovations and technological advancements, and the emergence of blockchain a decade ago is a milestone in our progress that is often underestimated. We are going through a deep pace of changes in many areas, but the financial field is being disrupted and reshaped like never before. Traditional values like gold and fiat money are regarded as obsolete and outdated by millennials and younger generations, while digital currencies are becoming of major importance. Cryptocurrencies are here to stay, and the time has come to endorse stablecoins.

Monday, June 22nd marks the 2nd anniversary of the first EURS emission. We want to share our thoughts, key milestones, and achievements with you!

The story of overcoming the stablecoin launch challenges

In 2020, more and more institutions come in the crypto field as new blockchain-based and custody services are being introduced. Cryptocurrency space is a place where no traditional financial market rules can guarantee a definite success. Surviving in a volatile crypto ocean where more than 5,000 assets exist — is a hard task and managing a successful project in this industry is a goal for a really determined team. We at STASIS had set our mission from the initial start: to provide a safe harbor and stable environment for the digital asset market players.

EURS is the first euro-backed digital asset, combining the benefits of the world’s second most traded currency with the transparency, immutability, and efficiency of the blockchain. Mirroring the value of the euro on the blockchain is supported by liquidity assurance mechanisms provided by our ecosystem partners, and each token is backed 1:1 by euros held in our reserve accounts.

EURS Stablecoin seeks to challenge the U.S. Dollar’s dominance in global financial markets. Moreover, stablecoins have a real chance to be used as a global currency that can’t be subject to traditional market disasters. This kind of digital currency is not fractionally reserved. Blockchain assets are audited on demand and the risk level is significantly lower. That’s the main difference from other derivatives that have created financial crises over the last couple of centuries, such as Tulip mania, the South Sea bubble, the Great Depression, Silver Thursday, the Mexican default, etc.

However, existing stablecoins have various drawbacks that do not reassure market adopters of the simple fact that it’s the inevitable market future. Crafting a product that can ultimately win is surely not a walk in the park: since 2017, more than 200 teams worldwide have announced stablecoin developments, but many projects failed to implement or run them in the end. Nowadays, less than 30% of the stablecoins ever released continue to exist.

The CBDCs are entering the scene

The topic of Central Bank Digital Currencies or CDBSs has been of major interest as stablecoins gained more popularity in the crypto world. Even before the notorious winter of 2019 took place, when Bitcoin price fell to the critical levels, more and more market participants and institutional clients became excited about the stablecoin’s benefits. World governments and large companies surely noticed the trend and started to experiment in this area, but there had not been any common direction to follow. After the decay of TON and many ongoing problems for Libra, it became evident that private companies will suffer countless challenges in the future. However, the latest Digital Dollar white paper introduction to the Digital yuan pilot project outlines the rising need for stablecoin solutions. Moreover, the latest news suggests that Italian Banking Association (ABI) is willing to pilot a digital euro.

Being a private firm, we’re not afraid that CDBCs’ imminent launch and further existence will hamper EURS popularity. Judging by today’s perspective, CBDCs will likely follow a wholesale variant route, which will cut off its accessibility for the retail segment.

If retail CDBCs ever become a reality, the commercial banks will suffer heavy losses since people will run to withdraw their deposits and move it to the Central Bank accounts. What’s the point of holding savings with commercial institutions that have their own credit risk and are fractionally reserved?

The road of achievements

During our ongoing operation, we’ve managed not only to sustain our presence on the global crypto scene but to progress and broaden our outreach, set numerous partnerships worldwide, while keeping a positive image in the eyes of the general public and regulators.

• Setting transparency standards

It was essential for us to get the top audit firm verifications to reassure our clients in our transparency. Establishing a trusted partnership with top auditing BDO in Malta was a major challenge. We’ve done it by showcasing the potential of blockchain technology, the low-risk profile of the product, and how the audits could be completed quickly and efficiently, given the immutability of records on a Decentralized Ledger Technology (DLT) like blockchain.

• Launching the STASIS Stablecoin Wallet

The STASIS team redefined and simplified the way cryptocurrencies can be purchased and used by offering the cheapest on-ramp in digital assets by card, available through open API. With our stablecoin wallet, we successfully opened a convenient gateway to crypto for both institutions and mainstream users. We also implemented the “Sellback” feature for EURS purchases with less than hour transaction time! The app’s core feature is the option to transfer stablecoins without the need to pay for network commissions. Moreover, our team built an institutional-grade quality product available for retail customers: getting a checking account in euros only takes only a few minutes with the STASIS wallet, broadening the borders for the e-commerce sector. The simplicity of using crypto euro allows even senior citizens to engage in this market! With tens of thousands of active users, we’re sure to be on the right track.

• Going global

From the very start and till the last month — EURS stablecoin and STASIS Wallet have seen significant interest not only in Europe but globally. For now, multiple local communities have been opened and are successfully operating in various countries, as we witness massive demand from Africa and Brazil to Indonesia and Japan! Our user base has grown 5x times in 2020 despite the crisis and pandemic, combining a vast total outreach — a perfect sign of success in times of uncertainty. Join our global network to climb the learning curve in crypto today.

• Issuing EURS by the millions

EURS has become a popular digital asset for transitions, free of risks, and volatility inherent in conventional cryptocurrencies. The demand for our assets had risen over time. Today, our stablecoin has almost 32 million euros in fiat reserves, and the amount transferred has passed the 300 million milestone. The potential of stablecoins and its use cases has been recognized in times of crisis, and the demand for EURS is growing steadily.

• Overcoming the competition

In 2020, most of the numerous stablecoin projects have failed and went out of the game due to lack of funds, unsustainable business models, technical drawbacks, or simply had been taken down by regulatory bodies. By keeping up to date with existing regulations carefully from day one and helping decision-makers climb the learning curve in E-money 2.0, we developed EURO stablecoin to its current position of #1 Non-USD asset. We were the first to secure reserves through government securities. We were the first to secure reserves through government securities. Such a concept was recognized as a breakthrough model by MIT Review. We developed this concept back in 2016, implemented in 2017 through the legal framework, and launched in 2018, while some competitors are still struggling to do that.

• Setting multiple partnerships

During two years in operation, we managed to sign more than 30+ partnerships with various exchanges and liquidity providers in different countries: custodians, financial intermediaries, payment institutions, blockchain analytics companies, and auditors. You can check the updating list on our website.

• Focusing on acquiring solution

We continue to set standards for programmable cash and bridge the gap between decentralized finance and off-chain markets by launching cutting-edge acquiring via stablecoin solutions. Now any business or merchant can start selling online in a matter of minutes!

Stay tuned on More

Capitalizing on EU ultra-low interest rates is the opportunity that was underestimated by many. We are opening the box of new stablecoin use cases. Nowadays, crypto lending is the most overcollateralized market and euro-backed stablecoin EURS allows decreasing the resulting interest rate. DeFi Lending is a promising direction, and we are pleased to work with those who want to help us implement it. Please don’t hesitate to contact us at co@stasis.net.

Stay with the STASIS team to know our plans! Subscribe to Weekly Stablecoin Digest to stay updated on what’s coming in the crypto world, and read our “Month in Review” to read the 4-week summary of our achievements!

Moreover, make sure you subscribed to our socials on Telegram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to stay tuned on what we’re up to!