Cryptocurrency
Stablecoins Hit $20B Milestone, a Nearly 300% Year-to-Date Surge
CoinDesk reports, “The total value of stablecoins has now surpassed $20 billion, reflecting the growing demand of investors looking to hedge their risks in both crypto and traditional markets amid the coronavirus pandemic. Data from Coin Metrics show that the total value of assets for all stablecoins breached the $20 billion mark Thursday, only a little more […]
By Chris Sykora · September 24, 2020
CoinDesk reports, “The total value of stablecoins has now surpassed $20 billion, reflecting the growing demand of investors looking to hedge their risks in both crypto and traditional markets amid the coronavirus pandemic.
- Data from Coin Metrics show that the total value of assets for all stablecoins breached the $20 billion mark Thursday, only a little more than four months after the number broke a $10-billion record in May. Stablecoins are digital tokens, the values of which are pegged to fiat currencies like U.S. dollars.
- The main driver of the most recent rise is the latest downward pricing trend in non-stablecoin digital currencies such as bitcoin, according to John Todaro, director of institutional research at cryptocurrency analysis firm TradeBlock.
- ‘Because some exchanges do not offer fiat pairs, stablecoins are the only available option for traders to move risk off into fiat-like assets during periods of volatility,’ Todaro wrote in an email response to CoinDesk.
- More traders and individuals view stablecoins as an intermediary step before putting money in riskier cryptocurrencies. After purchasing the stablecoins with U.S. dollars or other government-issued currencies, they can move the stablecoins to exchanges and trade for cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, ether or others.
- Data from crypto data site Glassnode show that the balance on exchanges for tether, the most popular stablecoin by market capitalization, hit its all-time high in April…”