Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (10/18/2020)

Stablecoin supply has surged past $20 billion, driven by derivatives market

The total outstanding stablecoin supply stablecoin has surged from $5 billion at the beginning of 2020 to around $20.2 billion today. Tether’s USDT comprises approximately 79% of the market. Part of the growth has been driven by the surge in the decentralized finance (DeFi) market. Also important has been the growth of crypto derivatives markets, with most derivatives platforms requiring traders to put up collateral in the form of stablecoin. 

Stablecoins race ahead: Fiat-backed crypto booming amid uncertainty

From conception of the first stablecoin in 2012 with the proposal of the Mastercoin project as a way of tying cryptocurrencies to traditional assets to mitigate price volatility, developers have grown accustomed to using the U.S. dollar as a go-to stable asset. Currently, however, developers are experimenting with other stable assets such as gold, other fiat currencies and even cryptocurrencies. This article provides an updated look on the current state of stablecoin adoption as a list of the top performing stablecoins in the market.

USDC Continues Move Away From Ethereum, Heads to Stellar

US dollar-pegged stablecoin Circle will add USDC support to Stellar’s array of products, among them payments tools, infrastructure APIs and business accounts products, by the first quarter of next year. Circle has long sought to end its dependence on the Ethereum blockchain. In June, it announced support for the Algorand blockchain.