Here is the list of the most valuable stablecoins in the market, listed by their market cap in descending order
Top 10 stablecoin tokens. Source: shutterstock.com
The recent hype around cryptocurrencies may have started with Иitcoin’s bullish run. However, BTC is not the only crypto that is hitting the headlines. Due to their high institutional adoption and regulatory approval, stablecoins are on the rise today. Visa’s partnership with the UCDC parent company, the new US Treasury guidance on using stablecoins for bank functions, JPMorgan’s own stablecoin, and other significant events in the industry have not gone unnoticed by investors. Therefore, the overall stablecoin market has grown over eleven times since the beginning of 2020.
Tether (USDT). Market cap: $45,9B
Tether tokens are the main product of Tether Limited which has also recently launched Tether Gold (XAUT). The most valuable stablecoins in the market are backed by USD reserves, which include traditional currency and cash equivalents as well as other assets and receivables from loans made by Tether to third parties. This cryptocurrency is quite controversial. Namely, the company’s claims of USDT being fully backed by U.S. dollars at all times have often been questioned, especially after the unclear situation with Bitfinex. However, Tether and Bitfinex have finally reached a settlement of legal proceedings that presented no finding that Tether Ltd have ever issued tethers without backing or to manipulate crypto prices. In addition, the latest report from auditing firm Moore Cayman states that Tether’s reserves for USDT stablecoin exceed the amount required to redeem the digital asset tokens.
USD Coin (USDC). Market cap: $11B
USD Coin (USDC), issued by Centre Consortium, is an ERC-20 token creating possibilities in payments, lending, investing, trading and trade finance. Centre Consortium – a collaboration between Coinbase and Circle Internet Financial (Circle) – uses a reserve bank account to hold US Dollars that back USDC in circulation. The reserve assets are audited by the accounting firm Grant Thornton LLP every month. A few weeks ago, Visa became the first major payment processor to support digital currencies starting with the Centre’s stablecoins. The company has announced that transactions can now be settled using USD Coin (USDC). The pilot transaction with Crypto.com enabled the firm to settle a portion of its obligations for the Crypto.com Visa card program via USDC. Visa also plans to expand the USDC settlement capability to more crypto-native companies later this year as an alternative to traditional fiat in treasury and settlement workflows.
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC). Market cap: $9,6B
Wrapped BTC (WBTC) has recently emerged as the market-leading tokenized Bitcoin asset. WBTC is an Ethereum token that represents Bitcoin on the Ethereum blockchain. It is not Bitcoin itself, but a separate ERC-20 token designed to track the value of Bitcoin. This crypto-collateralized asset is backed 1:1 by bitcoin through the token’s minting mechanism. It enables bitcoin holders to use tokenized bitcoin in Ethereum-powered decentralized applications and trade it on decentralized exchanges. This way, the stablecoin delivers some much-needed liquidity to DeFi protocols. The collateral cryptocurrency is held in a reserve by the BitGo Trust. The verification of the BTCs that support the WBTC is done using a “proof of reserve” system.
Binance USD (BUSD). Market cap: $5,2B
Binance USD is backed 1:1 with real US Dollars. It is issued by the famous crypto exchange Binance in partnership with Paxos The asset is approved and regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) which makes it highly reliable. The token is supported on both ERC-20 and BEP-2 blockchain networks. Today, BUSD may also be used to buy tokenized Tesla shares or the Coinbase Stock Tokens on Binance. The offers of Binance stock tokens will continue to expand according to the market demand.
Dai (DAI). Market cap: $3,2B
Dai algorithmic stablecoin is a secured cryptocurrency, the value of which is relatively stable against the US dollar. Its market price is maintained and stabilised by Maker – a smart contract platform in the Ethereum cryptocurrency with a dynamic system Collateralised Debt Positions (CDP), autonomous feedback mechanisms, and external actors with corresponding interest. By controlling the types of accepted collateral, collateralization ratios, and the interest rates for borrowing or storing Dai, MakerDAO is able to control the amount of Dai in circulation, and thus its value. Dai is a key component of many dapps built on the Ethereum platform, allowing users to lend, borrow and invest at a stable predictable rate.
Terra USD (UST). Market cap: $1,7B
TerraUSD is a newly-launched algorithmic stablecoin that claims to be scalable, yield-bearing, and interchain. It is issued by Terra Money – a South Korean price-stable cryptocurrency platform – in partnership with Bittrex Global. The stablecoin is tied to the reserve crypto asset ($LUNA)? that derives its value from transaction fees collected on the Terra network. The cost of minting is equal to the face value of the stablecoins minted — in order to mint 1 TerraUSD, only $1 worth of the reserve asset ($LUNA) must be burned. This March, a successful launch of a savings Anchor Protocol boosted investors’ interest in the stablecoin. The savings platform offers the highest stablecoin APY at 20% on the UST. Additionally, users can now also use LUNA tokens for collateral to take loans in UST stablecoins.
Reserve Rights (RSR). Market cap: $1,1B
To be precise, RSR itself is volatile. It has grown significantly in 2021. Namely, the token had increased by over 320% in the period from January 1 to March 8. Far from being stable, this utility token is used to guarantee the collateralization rate and peg of the RSV which is the real stablecoin of the Reserve Rights project. Its market cap is only $1.03M so far. The stablecoin is a product of the complex dual-token platform where tokens are backed by a basket of smart-contract-managed cryptocurrencies. The RSV is meant to maintain parity with the U.S. dollar for the time being, but will eventually maintain a static value determined by the token itself. RSV is regulated by a seigniorage principle where arbitrage opportunities can only be exploited by RSR holders. The Reserve project is actively expanding into countries where hyperinflation is threatening local fiat as a storage of value. For instance, in the last week of March, Reserve was the #1 most downloaded finance app in Venezuela, whereas its user bases in Argentina and Colombia have steadily increased.
Paxos Standard (PAX). Market cap: $914,96M
Launched in 2018, PAX combines US Dollar stability with the efficiency of blockchain technology. It is backed 1:1 for the USD and issued by the Paxos Trust Company. Paxos Standard follows the ERC-20 protocol. It’s also approved and regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services. The asset is listed on over 150 exchanges, OTC desks, and wallets. The stablecoin’s parent company is very ambitious, currently applying for licenses to become a fully-regulated national crypto-bank and a formal clearing agency.
HUSD. Market cap: $744,03M
HUSD is an ERC-20 token pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar, with fiat reserves held in a U.S. trust company. The stablecoin is issued by Stable Universal backed by the Huobi exchange. Customers can also use HUSD as a way to pay for goods and services at partnering platforms. In the nearest future, the token will be available on the Chinese public blockchain Nervos and IOST network oiled with the Proof-of-Believability consensus algorithm.
True USD (TUSD). Market cap: $301,8M
TrueUSD is a stablecoin running on Ethereum that attempts to maintain a value of US$1.00. The supply of TUSD is issued by TrustToken Inc. Its value is collateralized by US dollars held in escrow by various banks. TUSD was the first asset token created on the TrustToken Platform – a set of legal and technical standards for turning real-world assets into asset tokens. Today, there are four more True digital currencies: TGBP, TAUD, TCAD, and THKD backed by the British pound, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar, and Hong Kong dollar reserves respectively.
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