The Minteries of Tezos Stablecoins
Buy/Sell USDtez to Tezos bakeries that are also enrolled minters
Whereas most asset trading is done in secondary markets (including exchanges like Quipuswap, and TEZEX), assets generally begin in their respective primary markets. From there, liquidity providers supply the liquidity pools of secondary markets.
For USDtez (USDtz/USDTZ) the primary market is by default, the place where USDtz tokens are minted; the USDtz minting portal. It’s at this juncture where the collateral is deposited so that USDtz can be minted. Likewise, it’s also where USDtz can be deposited and burnt so that the underlying collateral can be withdrawn.
Only enrolled minters of USDtz can operate the minting portal. Minters may enroll as individuals or as institutions (subject to qualification).
What is a Mintery?
A mintery is a baker on Tezos that is also an enrolled institutional minter of USDtz. Minteries serve the USDtez Network as the connective tissue between the USDtz Minting Portal and the USDtz users. Outside of an exchange/secondary-market, users can buy USDtz from these minteries, and sell USDtz to them as well. This is particularly relevant for those seeking to supply liquidity pools on those exchanges (like Quipuswap).
What can a Mintery do?
Minteries are authorized to mint new USDtz and redeem USDtz for the underlying collateral (e.g. USDC, GUSD). Since not every user is able or willing to become a minter themselves, minteries may provide that service to users.
What does that mean for me?
For a user, buying and selling USDtz through a mintery may be a more desirable option than alternatives.
For example, buying on a secondary market could incur slippage fees. This is particularly relevant if a user’s objective in acquiring USDtz is to supply liquidity to such an exchange. Buying from a mintery could avoid slippage (though the mintery may charge its own fee).
Moreover, the decentralized nature of minteries (having many of them) means minteries may be localized, serving users of a particular language or time zone.
Do Minteries charge fees for buying/selling?
That’s up to each of them, respectively. Ask them.
Who can create a Mintery?
Tezos bakers in good standing may enroll as Minteries. To do so, the baker must first enroll through the USDtz Minter enrollment portal. Enrollment is subject to qualification.
These are the same qualifications for general enrollment of qualified individuals and institutions, but additionally, the applicant should have either:
- a baker that’s been running continuously for at least 1-year
- (and/or) a baker with a significant balance of tez (yes, this can change based on the price of XTZ, so this will be determined by the fair market value at the time of application)
- (and/or) a smaller baker that’s new yet nonetheless has significant relevance to the community such as well-established contributions to the Tezos ecosystem
New mintery applications will be reviewed and processed on a case-by-case basis.
Where can I find a Mintery to use?
On the USDtz.com website, you can view a list of enrolled USDtz Minteries, along with a contact email for each of them.
List of enrolled USDtz Minteries + contact info
Where can I learn more about USDtez and Tezos Stablecoins?
Go to USDtz.com for more information about USDtez and the USD Tez Project.
USDtez (USDTZ) is an open-source ecosystem project from Tezos Stable Technologies (aka ‘StableTech’), which is governed and wholly-owned by a non-shareholder foundation called The Tezos Stablecoin Foundation. For more information on StableTech, visit: https://stable.tech
