this post was submitted on 12 Aug 2025
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Explain Like I'm Five

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[–] mustard57@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago (2 children)

So their utility is that they are a form of USD that can easily interact with cryto markets.

[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 12 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Except that you have some anonymous strangers who pinky swear that they have said real-wolrd-asset backing.

There've been more than enough instances where said backing just didn't exist.

[–] schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 1 month ago

isn't that how economic crises start or something.......?

[–] partial_accumen@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

Especially recent history has shown that stable coins should actually be written "stable" coins. The analogy to casino chips is also a bit weak because casinos (in many countries including the USA) are highly regulated by the government. An example of a USA law is that if a casino goes out-of-business, the cash assets that were set aside must be made available for people that were still holding that casino's chips so the person can turn them back into cash. No such rule exists for crypto "stable" coins.

When a "stable" coin goes under, you lose your money just like a non-"stable" coin. There are numerous examples from the last 5 years:

Most Expensive Stablecoin Crashes: The Biggest Collapses That Shook the Crypto Market

[–] Zarxrax@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

Basically, yeah