With all of the alleged Bitfinex – Tether controversy making the rounds once again, the dire need for alternative stablecoins is highlighted. Luckily for traders, numerous of those currencies exist already, albeit none of them seem capable of even rivaling USDT in terms of market cap. Depending on how the Tether situation plays out – with little to no changes remaining the plausible outcome – the following stablecoins could be capable of making a name for themselves once again.
USD Coin (USDC)
When it comes to alternative stablecoins ranked by market cap, it quickly becomes apparent USD Coin is the only real rival Tether’s USDT might have at this time. Even so, USD Coin only has a market cap of $296.16m, which is not necessarily a good sign as of right now. While this is a relatively decent number, it is evident this currency lacks the “oomph” Tether has. With the current debacle in place once again, it remains to be seen if this situation will come to change over the coming weeks and months.
One thing hurting USD Coin is how its support by exchanges is still fairly limited. Binance is the biggest contributor, with its BTC, USDT, and PAX pairs. Coinsuper, IDCM, Coinbase Pro, and Bitmax are also somewhat well-known markets supporting USDC. Although Poloniex supports this token as well, it does not generate any real trading volume. Without the likes of Bitfinex, Kraken, or GDAX supporting USD Coin, it seems no major growth can be achieved at this time.
TrueUSD (TUSD)
Although TrueUSD and USD Coin are not necessarily that far apart in terms of market cap, overcoming this $60m gap will require a lot of effort. At this time TrueUSD notes more trading volume compared to USD Coin, which is a rather interesting statistic worth keeping an eye on. This inter-stablecoin competition can yield some surprising developments over the months and years to come, depending on what happens to Tether in the process.
It would appear a fair few different exchanges support TUSD trading as of right now. While Binance supports virtually all stablecoins other noteworthy exchanges on the list include it-Z, DigiFinex, FCoin, BitForex, and OKEx. Binance also offers a ton more important trading pairs for TUSD compared to USDC, which is something to keep an eye on. It is evident there is some momentum brewing among USD-pegged currencies during these crucial times.
Paxos Standard Token (PAX)
One of the more surprising entrants a few months ago comes in the form of Paxos Standard Token. With a $130.75m market cap and over $114.65m in trading volume, it is also one of the more liquid stablecoin markets today except for Tether. Binance, ZB.com, OKEx, BitMax, and others all support this stablecoin, with a fair amount of trading volume being generated by all of them. More competition among stablecoins is something to look forward to as more time progresses.
Dai (DAI)
Although it would appear DAI is often overlooked, the project has accumulated an $84m market cap to date. While its trading volume is not necessarily spectacular either, it is still a market worth watching. This is also a project not supported by Binance, as most of its trading volume comes from FatBTC, BitInka, and HitBTC. Not necessarily the most prominent exchanges either, but a good place to start. It will be interesting to see if Dai can effectively move up the rankings in the years to come.
Disclaimer: This is not trading or investment advice. The above article is for entertainment and education purposes only. Please do your own research before purchasing or investing into any cryptocurrency.
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