The State of Stablecoins (2018)

Abstract

The report presents new insights and data on stablecoins, an innovative and rapidly evolving sector of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Stablecoins, as the name suggests, are cryptocurrencies that are designed to minimize price volatility. The findings in this research study are based on the analysis of a new data set for 57 individual stablecoins. The empirical data utilized in the analysis was gathered from both public and non-public sources. The total number of active projects makes stablecoins one of the largest cryptoasset categories, and as shown in the report stablecoins are also a leading category across a number of key metrics (e.g., venture funding). The level of interest and resources devoted to stablecoins is striking and indicates that stablecoins are viewed as a very important part of the digital assets ecosystem. Indeed, stablecoins are often thought of as a foundational layer or infrastructure, one that could significantly expand the cryptoasset userbase from our current estimate of approximately 20-30 million individuals.

Keywords: Stablecoins, central bank digital currency, cryptocurrency, blockchain, distributed ledger technology, exchange rates, Libra, Tether, Bitcoin, Ethereum

JEL Classification: E4, E42, E44, E49, E5, E51, E52, E58, F31, F38, G1, G01, G15, G18, G21, G23, G28, K22, K24, M13