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> I feel pretty good about considering stable coins securities. Take that further to airline points and Chipotle points. If the stablecoin does not provide ret

> I feel pretty good about considering stable coins securities. Take that further to airline points and Chipotle points. If the stablecoin does not provide returns to the holder, how is it an investment contract?

lmm 3y ago
> Take that further to airline points and Chipotle points. No-one is holding those with an "expectation of profit". Whereas essentially the only use of "stablecoins" is as investment schemes; even if someone isn't expecting the value of their stablecoin to rise against USD, they're expecting it to rise against something.
- landemva 3y ago
  Stablecoins are supposed to be stable, and not rise or fall. There is no expectation of profit for a stablecoin like USDC. And USDC doesn't pay interest. People use it for stability and for payments.
  - lowkeyoptimist 3y ago
    Last I checked, you could get 5% interest on your USDC. Is that just something where the exchange is lending it out?
    - landemva 3y ago
      It is not the code of the USDC stablecoin paying 5%, so that reward is something else. Maybe the exchange wants to get many people sending coin to them so their asset base looks big for ... some purpose?
  - ac29 3y ago
    > USDC doesn't pay interest Coinbase, who co-founded USDC, absolutely pays interest on USDC: https://www.coinbase.com/usdc https://www.coinbase.com/usdc (they call it rewards instead of interest in an attempt to avoid regulation, but it is functionally the same thing)
    - mattdesl 3y ago
      A company offering to pay interest on top of stablecoin holdings does not mean the underlying asset features an expectation of profit.
- nl 3y ago
  In general I'm on the "many crypto tokens are securities" side here. However this isn't right: > Whereas essentially the only use of "stablecoins" is as investment schemes; even if someone isn't expecting the value of their stablecoin to rise against USD, they're expecting it to rise against something. Stablecoins are very frequently used as transfer tokens for remittances, wages and ecommerce. We pay overseas staff in USDC for example (it's quicker and easier than bank transfers).
- smabie 3y ago
  What? You could say that about the US dollar. Regardless, that's not why people hold stable coins.

lmm 3y ago

> Take that further to airline points and Chipotle points. No-one is holding those with an "expectation of profit". Whereas essentially the only use of "stablecoins" is as investment schemes; even if someone isn't expecting the value of their stablecoin to rise against USD, they're expecting it to rise against something.

landemva 3y ago
Stablecoins are supposed to be stable, and not rise or fall. There is no expectation of profit for a stablecoin like USDC. And USDC doesn't pay interest. People use it for stability and for payments.
- lowkeyoptimist 3y ago
  Last I checked, you could get 5% interest on your USDC. Is that just something where the exchange is lending it out?
  - landemva 3y ago
    It is not the code of the USDC stablecoin paying 5%, so that reward is something else. Maybe the exchange wants to get many people sending coin to them so their asset base looks big for ... some purpose?
- ac29 3y ago
  > USDC doesn't pay interest Coinbase, who co-founded USDC, absolutely pays interest on USDC: https://www.coinbase.com/usdc https://www.coinbase.com/usdc (they call it rewards instead of interest in an attempt to avoid regulation, but it is functionally the same thing)
  - mattdesl 3y ago
    A company offering to pay interest on top of stablecoin holdings does not mean the underlying asset features an expectation of profit.
nl 3y ago
In general I'm on the "many crypto tokens are securities" side here. However this isn't right: > Whereas essentially the only use of "stablecoins" is as investment schemes; even if someone isn't expecting the value of their stablecoin to rise against USD, they're expecting it to rise against something. Stablecoins are very frequently used as transfer tokens for remittances, wages and ecommerce. We pay overseas staff in USDC for example (it's quicker and easier than bank transfers).
smabie 3y ago
What? You could say that about the US dollar. Regardless, that's not why people hold stable coins.