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There are more than $100b of stablecoins — 285x year-over-year growth — with a variety of very interesting and high-quality stablecoins proliferating. And of co

There are more than $100b of stablecoins — 285x year-over-year growth — with a variety of very interesting and high-quality stablecoins proliferating. And of course, Hacker News focuses on some garbage project nobody in the space even followed. How is there no discussion about FRAX, Maker's DAI, USDC, CRV's 3pool token, Liquity's LUSD, and so many other interesting projects?

davesque 5y ago
There probably have been previous discussions about those projects. But yeah, the project relating to this headline is not news worthy. It's HN; go figure.
pavel_lishin 5y ago
Because there's nothing interesting about them. They're just another variation on the same ol' "we peg our value to the dollar(*)!" pitch. The interesting stuff happens when they fail.
- aqme28 5y ago
  I think they way they peg their value to a dollar is interesting, because there are so many different strategies now. Some are via reserve dollars, some via collateral based on an oracle, some via collateral not based on an oracle, some are tightly coupled, and some are a bit looser.
- bvaldivielso 5y ago
  You can be dismissive about literally anything that way. Computers: another variation on the same ol' "input in, output out" pitch. You find stablecoin's failures interesting. Crypto enthusiasts (which admittedly are a tiny fraction of the people holding cryptocurrencies) do too, while at the same time finding the pegging mechanisms interesting as well
- lazzlazzlazz 5y ago
  I couldn't disagree more. All of the projects I listed have radically different mechanisms, failure conditions, capital efficiencies, and value capture abilities. It's a fascinating space that is in its infancy. And you're missing projects that aren't pegged to the dollar, but instead have dampened volatility floating price targets — like Reflexer and OlympusDAO. It's a rich, beautiful corner of a rapidly growing space.
  - Aperocky 5y ago
    It's a rapidly inflating bubble like NFTs and subprime mortgages.
    - xur17 5y ago
      What aspect of stablecoins makes them a bubble?
      - shkkmo 5y ago
        A rapidly rising market cap that depends on the expectation of continued growth of demand. Some stablecoins are more protected than others against drops in demand. However, without a compete backing the the currency a stablecoin, there is a point at which sufficient supply of the stablecoin cannot destroyed and the peg will break as supply outstrips demand. When the bubble pops there will be a lot of broken pegs but it most likey won't wipe out every stablecoin.
        xur17 5y ago
        But that's not how the decentralized ones work. They aren't relying on "a rapidly rising market cap". Most of the stablecoins are backed by volatile assets (ETH, BTC, etc), but have automated systems to liquidate the collateral when price drops occur. The only real problem would be a very large drop in a very short period of time, and the big stablecoins already have already survived 50% drops in pretty short time spans.
      - Aperocky 5y ago
- xur17 5y ago
  They all do the same thing (peg to the dollar), but in different ways with different tradeoffs. That's the interesting part that you're completely missing. Some are more centralized than others. Some rely on governance more than others. Some allow themselves to drift further from the peg than others. Some are more complex (and therefore more at risk of failure). There's actually quite a lot going on, and I personally find it pretty interesting, but yeah, at the surface, it's a bunch of coins that trade fairly close to $1.
- jMyles 5y ago
  I have to say, it seems to me that OP specifically started the list with two different, interesting, novel approaches that are not as you describe. It's as if the comment was designed to repel lazy, karma-farming comments like this one, and yet you still delivered one. Why? What else can you suggest in order not to prompt this response?
raesene9 5y ago
The largest stablecoin by Market cap, Tether, has been discussed on here, quite a few times.
PragmaticPulp 5y ago
The stablecoins that succeed aren't very interesting because they're simply blockchain representations of actual funds held elsewhere. Or at least funds that are claimed to be held somewhere. Those stablecoins are simply a redeemable, tradeable representation of money held somewhere else. These artificial stablecoins that attempt to get clever with algorithmic finance and smart contracts are interesting because they inevitably collapse when someone pokes the system enough to make it unstable. The strangest part is how it happens over and over again yet people still put money into these flawed algorithmic stablecoins anyway.
- thebean11 5y ago
  > The stablecoins that succeed aren't very interesting because they're simply blockchain representations of actual funds held elsewhere. Or at least funds that are claimed to be held somewhere. DAI is not in this category. It is backed by over collateralized loans in multiple currencies, and maintains peg by creating and burning coins in a smart contract.
- fleddr 5y ago
  You say they are "simply" a representation of fiat money, basically a fiat mirror held in crypto, but they play an incredibly important role in the ecosystem: - In some countries, swapping crypto to stablecoin (another crypto) has no tax implications whilst swapping to fiat does have consequences. - For big account holders (not me), stablecoins are the only way to put gains on "dry land". If you win big on exchanges, you can't take it out at once, there's withdrawal limits. It can takes months to get it out, years if really rich. During all this time, your gain may finish if you'd hold it in the original coin, so stablecoins secure your profit in the meanwhile. Fascinating? No, but definitely important.
  - quadcore 5y ago
    Interesting there is this new series on Netflix, StartUp about this stuff. So the question really is "does it work?". Couldn't this be interesting for that it will force us to change the way we code? For sure the best paradigm will win over time. And the best coders. People are investing in the coders at this point like they do in a bank. Feels like this story isn't stopping anytime soon.
marton78 5y ago
Why is everyone talking about the condo that collapsed recently in Miami? There are so many condos still standing, but nobody cares!
- lazzlazzlazz 5y ago
  There are larger, far more interesting collapses (and subsequent recoveries): Titan, Fei, Empty Set Dollar, and more. Even going with your analogy, it makes no sense that this was #1 on HN. Unless it's also true that HN is just weirdly out of sync with crypto.
- knownjorbist 5y ago
  This is such a weak(and frankly untimely) analogy, sorry.
charwalker 5y ago
I don't put money in gambling on assets underwritten by nothing. If I want a rush I'll buy AMC or something with real world value. The hype drives the coins but the only people getting rich are those in early then motivated to tell people to buy. It's a decentralized pyramid scheme and even those work some of the time.
Aperocky 5y ago
> high-quality stablecoins Until the next financial crisis maybe?

davesque 5y ago

There probably have been previous discussions about those projects. But yeah, the project relating to this headline is not news worthy. It's HN; go figure.

pavel_lishin 5y ago

Because there's nothing interesting about them. They're just another variation on the same ol' "we peg our value to the dollar(*)!" pitch. The interesting stuff happens when they fail.

aqme28 5y ago
I think they way they peg their value to a dollar is interesting, because there are so many different strategies now. Some are via reserve dollars, some via collateral based on an oracle, some via collateral not based on an oracle, some are tightly coupled, and some are a bit looser.
bvaldivielso 5y ago
You can be dismissive about literally anything that way. Computers: another variation on the same ol' "input in, output out" pitch. You find stablecoin's failures interesting. Crypto enthusiasts (which admittedly are a tiny fraction of the people holding cryptocurrencies) do too, while at the same time finding the pegging mechanisms interesting as well
lazzlazzlazz 5y ago
I couldn't disagree more. All of the projects I listed have radically different mechanisms, failure conditions, capital efficiencies, and value capture abilities. It's a fascinating space that is in its infancy. And you're missing projects that aren't pegged to the dollar, but instead have dampened volatility floating price targets — like Reflexer and OlympusDAO. It's a rich, beautiful corner of a rapidly growing space.
- Aperocky 5y ago
  It's a rapidly inflating bubble like NFTs and subprime mortgages.
  - xur17 5y ago
    What aspect of stablecoins makes them a bubble?
    - shkkmo 5y ago
      A rapidly rising market cap that depends on the expectation of continued growth of demand. Some stablecoins are more protected than others against drops in demand. However, without a compete backing the the currency a stablecoin, there is a point at which sufficient supply of the stablecoin cannot destroyed and the peg will break as supply outstrips demand. When the bubble pops there will be a lot of broken pegs but it most likey won't wipe out every stablecoin.
      - xur17 5y ago
        But that's not how the decentralized ones work. They aren't relying on "a rapidly rising market cap". Most of the stablecoins are backed by volatile assets (ETH, BTC, etc), but have automated systems to liquidate the collateral when price drops occur. The only real problem would be a very large drop in a very short period of time, and the big stablecoins already have already survived 50% drops in pretty short time spans.
    - Aperocky 5y ago
xur17 5y ago
They all do the same thing (peg to the dollar), but in different ways with different tradeoffs. That's the interesting part that you're completely missing. Some are more centralized than others. Some rely on governance more than others. Some allow themselves to drift further from the peg than others. Some are more complex (and therefore more at risk of failure). There's actually quite a lot going on, and I personally find it pretty interesting, but yeah, at the surface, it's a bunch of coins that trade fairly close to $1.
jMyles 5y ago
I have to say, it seems to me that OP specifically started the list with two different, interesting, novel approaches that are not as you describe. It's as if the comment was designed to repel lazy, karma-farming comments like this one, and yet you still delivered one. Why? What else can you suggest in order not to prompt this response?

raesene9 5y ago

The largest stablecoin by Market cap, Tether, has been discussed on here, quite a few times.

PragmaticPulp 5y ago

The stablecoins that succeed aren't very interesting because they're simply blockchain representations of actual funds held elsewhere. Or at least funds that are claimed to be held somewhere. Those stablecoins are simply a redeemable, tradeable representation of money held somewhere else. These artificial stablecoins that attempt to get clever with algorithmic finance and smart contracts are interesting because they inevitably collapse when someone pokes the system enough to make it unstable. The strangest part is how it happens over and over again yet people still put money into these flawed algorithmic stablecoins anyway.

thebean11 5y ago
> The stablecoins that succeed aren't very interesting because they're simply blockchain representations of actual funds held elsewhere. Or at least funds that are claimed to be held somewhere. DAI is not in this category. It is backed by over collateralized loans in multiple currencies, and maintains peg by creating and burning coins in a smart contract.
fleddr 5y ago
You say they are "simply" a representation of fiat money, basically a fiat mirror held in crypto, but they play an incredibly important role in the ecosystem: - In some countries, swapping crypto to stablecoin (another crypto) has no tax implications whilst swapping to fiat does have consequences. - For big account holders (not me), stablecoins are the only way to put gains on "dry land". If you win big on exchanges, you can't take it out at once, there's withdrawal limits. It can takes months to get it out, years if really rich. During all this time, your gain may finish if you'd hold it in the original coin, so stablecoins secure your profit in the meanwhile. Fascinating? No, but definitely important.
- quadcore 5y ago
  Interesting there is this new series on Netflix, StartUp about this stuff. So the question really is "does it work?". Couldn't this be interesting for that it will force us to change the way we code? For sure the best paradigm will win over time. And the best coders. People are investing in the coders at this point like they do in a bank. Feels like this story isn't stopping anytime soon.

marton78 5y ago

Why is everyone talking about the condo that collapsed recently in Miami? There are so many condos still standing, but nobody cares!

lazzlazzlazz 5y ago
There are larger, far more interesting collapses (and subsequent recoveries): Titan, Fei, Empty Set Dollar, and more. Even going with your analogy, it makes no sense that this was #1 on HN. Unless it's also true that HN is just weirdly out of sync with crypto.
knownjorbist 5y ago
This is such a weak(and frankly untimely) analogy, sorry.

charwalker 5y ago

I don't put money in gambling on assets underwritten by nothing. If I want a rush I'll buy AMC or something with real world value. The hype drives the coins but the only people getting rich are those in early then motivated to tell people to buy. It's a decentralized pyramid scheme and even those work some of the time.

Aperocky 5y ago

> high-quality stablecoins Until the next financial crisis maybe?