We’re delighted to announce the publication of The State of Stablecoins, a major research report focused on the rapidly growing world of stablecoins.
The report is the first of its kind to take a full look at the current state of the stablecoin market – an under-discussed but increasingly important part of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. And a space where we expect to see significant innovation in the coming years.
As stablecoins are tied either to the price of a commodity or to the operation of an algorithm, their prices are much less volatile than other cryptoassets. This means they’re appropriate for a whole host of use cases in the longer-term, ranging from store of value and derivatives, to smart contracts and remittances. Collectively, these are potentially worth tens of trillions of dollars. This means that stablecoins could act as a tipping point into wider crypto-asset adoption.
It’s an area that is also gaining increasing attention from investors, with over $350m committed to date from established funds such as Bain Capital Ventures, Google Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, and Lightspeed Venture Partners, among others.
The State of Stablecoins report takes a detailed look for the first time at the strengths, trade-offs and concerns associated with all 57 active stablecoins, including both live and pre-launch projects, using a new data set that includes previously non-public information.
The report gives an overview of the different stablecoin formats currently in use, their relative performance and provides insights into the regulatory landscape. It also gives projections for how the market will develop over the next few years.
This report is also the first publication from our new research team, led by , who was recently named one of the 100 most influential economists in the U.K. and Ireland by City A.M.
As well as providing great products to our users, Blockchain has been committed to shining a light on the state of the markets, ever since the early days of Blockchain.info, when we first launched our block explorer service.
We hope you find this report interesting and informative. We look forward to sharing more of our team’s research in the future.
You can read the full report or take a look at the summary slides at blockchain.com/research.
Fifty traders who use Indian crypto exchange Instashift have shared their thoughts on the current crypto environment in India. Most of them said that they “hodl” and would continue to invest in crypto despite regulatory uncertainty.
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Most Respondents Are Hodlers
A survey was conducted in the first week of October by Indian cryptocurrency exchange Instashift exclusively for news.bitcoin.com. Launched in March, Instashift offers the buying and selling of over 80 cryptocurrencies.
Fifty active traders in India participated. The goal of the survey was to find out what they think about various crypto-related issues including their investment concerns, the crypto banking ban by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and whether they will keep investing in crypto despite regulatory uncertainty.
Among the 50 traders who responded, 43 said that they hodl while seven revealed that they invest short-term.
Furthermore, 40 traders believe bitcoin is a safe haven against rupee inflation while 10 traders disagree.
Crypto Investing Despite RBI Ban
India is currently drafting crypto regulations which were supposed to be ready in but have been . Meanwhile, RBI, the country’s central bank, has financial institutions under its jurisdiction from providing services to crypto businesses. A number of petitions have been filed against the ban. The country’s supreme court has been trying to hear them since Sept. 11, but the hearing has continually been .
The banking ban by the central bank has adversely impacted some exchanges. One of the country’s largest crypto trading platforms, Zebpay, recently its exchange operations due to the banking problem.
Despite the ban, 32 Instashift traders said that they would continue to invest in crypto even if the RBI intensifies its crackdown such as freezing crypto accounts. Another 12 traders noted that they are also likely to continue trading while six respondents said they would discontinue crypto trading.
In addition, 36 traders believe that the Indian government will amend existing laws to accommodate cryptocurrencies. Ten respondents believe that the regulators will remove restrictions on crypto. However, only four traders believe that crypto will be legalized and regulated in India.
Preferred Cash-Out Methods
A number of crypto exchanges in India have come up with their own solutions to the RBI ban. Some have introduced exchange-escrowed peer-to-peer trading services, which they claim have .
Respondents were asked about their preferred methods of cashing out cryptocurrencies into rupees. Forty-eight traders said they prefer to cash out using sites. Five traders prefer to use local cash deals, four prefer to use gift cards and online deals, and four others prefer to cash out using prepaid crypto Visa and Mastercard services.
On Sunday, another cash-out method was introduced by one of India’s largest crypto exchanges, Unocoin. The company has crypto ATMs to bypass the RBI ban and allow its users to deposit and withdraw rupees. This option was announced after the Instashift survey had concluded, so it was not included in the survey.
As for where to keep their funds, 24 traders prefer to keep them in BTC, 14 prefer altcoins, and 12 specifically prefer stablecoins. Recently, an increasing number of crypto exchanges in India have started such as tether (USDT) and trueusd (TUSD).
Future Prospects of Crypto Ecosystem in India
Amid the banking ban, 35 respondents believe that the fear of regulatory uncertainty is the biggest hurdle stopping the Indian crypto economy from flourishing. Twenty-six traders believe that the lack of banking support is the biggest challenge. Twenty-five traders put the lack of understanding of the crypto industry as the most important factor, while 18 traders attributed the lack of liquidity in the market as the top reason.
Despite all the hurdles, 41 traders said that they are long-term investors and will continue to invest in crypto. Seventeen traders admitted that they are apprehensive but expect the government to eventually create a positive environment for cryptocurrencies. However, four respondents are entertaining the idea of exiting the crypto space altogether.
What do you think of the current crypto environment in India? Let us know in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Instashift.
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