Stablecoins and stable coins

I notice that in the considerable press comment concerning the possible introduction of a Facebook payment system and perhaps even a Facebook currency of some kind, commentators continually refer to a Facebook “stablecoin”. I am certain that they are wrong to use this term, because it does not mean what they think it means. I may well be facing a losing battle about this, but I am stickler for correct currency terminology.

So. Stablecoin. What?

In the Bank of England’s excellent “Bank Underground” blog, there was a post on this topic that said "The chances of a stablecoin keeping a stable price depends on its design. There are generally two designs of stablecoin: those backed by assets, and those that are unbacked or ‘algorithmic’”. They are right, of course, but I have slightly more granular classification of designs:

1. Algorithmic Currencies, in which algorithms manage supply and demand to obtain stability of the digital currency. This is what a stable cryptocurrency is: since a cryptocurrency is backed by nothing other than mathematics, it is mathematics that manages the money supply to hold the value of the steady against some external benchmark. This is what is meant by stablecoin in the original crypto use of the term.

2. Asset-backed Currencies, in which an asset or basket of assets are used to back the digital currency. I don’t know why people refer to these a stablecoins, since they are stable only against the specific assets that back them. An asset that is backed by, say, crude oil is stable against crude oil but nothing else.

3. Fiat (aka Currency Boards), similar to a asset-backed currencies but where the assets backing the digital currency are fiat currencies only. There are mundane versions of these already: in Bulgaria, for example, where the local currency (the Lev) is backed by a 100% reserve of US dollars. 

As for that last category, this is effectively what is currently defined as electronic money under the existing EU directives, and therefore already regulated. Those coins backed by fiat currency, such as JPM Coin, simply provide a convenient way to transfer value around the internet without going through banking networks.

Predictions are of course difficult, but my general feeling is that it is the asset-backed currencies that are most interesting and most likely to succeed in causing an actual revolution in finance and banking. Algorithmic stablecoins and fiat “stablecoins” exist to serve a demand for value transfer, but this is increasingly served well by conventional means. I notice this week, for example, that Transferwise can now send money from the UK to Hong Kong in 11 seconds, a feat made possible by their direct connection to the payments networks of both countries. Why would I use a fiat token when I can send fiat money faster and cheaper?

Of course, you might argue that a digital currency board might allow people who are excluded from the global financial system to hold and transfer value but I am unconvinced. There plenty of ways to hold and transfer electronic value (eg, M-PESA) without using bank accounts. Generally speaking, people around the world are excluded because of regulation (eg, KYC) and if we want to do something about inclusion we should probably start here. If you are going to require KYC for the electronic wallet needed to hold your digital currency they customers may as well open a bank account, right?

(I’ve written before about how the need for an account hampered Mondex. When it was first launched, I went to a bank branch with £50 expecting to walk out with a Mondex card with £50 on it. What I actually walked out with was a multi-page form to open a bank account so that I could get a Mondex card which arrived some time later. And since I had to put my debit card into the ATM in order to load the Mondex card, I did what most other people did and drew out cash instead.)

I suppose there are some people who think that the anonymity and pseduonymity of cryptocurrencies might make them an attractive alternative to certain sectors, but this is probably a window. If cryptocurrencies were used for crime on a large scale then efforts would be made to police them. Bitcoin, in particular, is not a good choice for criminals since it leaves a public and immutable record of their actions but you can imagine a future in which the mere possession of an anonymous cryptocurrency becomes a prima facie cash of money laundering.

Looking at the “stable” stable, I’ll put my money on the middle way: there is a real marketplace logic to the trading of asset-backed currencies and I expect to see an explosion of different kinds.