The value of blockchains and cryptocurrencies still mostly lies in the ability to transact without middlemen and centralized authorities. This is what gives value to coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum and many others, even as a new breed of governance tokens is starting to take prominence. But the volatility inherent to cryptocurrencies is sometimes a major deterrent for newcomers. Some people want to just use a cheap, global and instant network without worrying about its value. For these people, stablecoins are the answer. Stablecoins have existed since 2014, with the stated purpose of protecting users from high volatility for Bitcoin and Ether without having to cash out to fiat. The value of these coins is very volatile, and making a payment exposes users to potentially major losses (or gains) — especially for BTC and its more than 1 hour confirmation times. On the other hand, stablecoins are designed to be pegged to a certain value and to guarantee nothing more than soft fluctuations. The use of stablecoins Thanks to their reliability, stablecoins can be used for transactions and global payments. Fiat-pegged stablecoins are convenient for international transactions with low fees and easy off-ramps to convert their fiat to crypto, make the transaction, and convert back to fiat. Probably the most popular stablecoins are USDC and USDT, both pegged on the US Dollar price. USD Coin (USDC) runs on Ethereum, which made it the DeFi-nativ...
