November 27, 2023

Image Credit: Analytics Insight

Decoding Stablecoins: Fiat, Crypto, Algorithmic, & Asset-Backed Varieties

January 3, 2024

Fiat-backed stablecoins (e.g., Tether, USDC) mimic traditional currencies, serving trading, remittances, and DeFi. Despite popularity, they pose centralized risks and reserve uncertainties.

Fiat-Backed Stablecoins

Image Credit: Economics Times

MakerDAO's DAI, a crypto-backed stablecoin, ensures stability through over-collateralization, yet is vulnerable to fluctuations while maintaining decentralization and trustlessness.

Crypto-Backed Stablecoins

Image Credit: Pinterest

Algorithmic stablecoins like TerraUSD operate without collateral, facing market demand vulnerabilities, yet attract users with transparency and decentralization.

Algorithmic Stablecoins

Image Credit: Hodlnut

Asset-Backed Stablecoins

Asset-backed stablecoins like Paxos Gold and Tether Gold secure stability through physical reserves of precious metals, ensuring value is derived from tangible assets.

Image Credit: Coinpedia

Use Cases and Popularity

Fiat-backed stablecoins serve diverse needs, crypto-backed like DAI balance decentralization with risks, algorithmic coins offer transparency but depend on markets.

Image Credit: Financial Times

Risks and Downsides

Fiat-backed coins risk from centralized reserves, crypto-backed face disruptions from collateral fluctuations, and algorithmic stability falters with reduced market demand, as seen in the Terra-Luna collapse in 2022.

Image Credit: CoinDCX

Attractiveness & Preferences

Image Credit: The Street

Fiat-backed stablecoins are popular, liquid, and resistant to manipulation; algorithmic stablecoins attract users with transparency; asset-backed stablecoins offer stability through tangible reserves.