What is a stablecoin?¶

A stablecoin is a token designed to track a reference asset, commonly a national currency. The design aims for price stability; it does not guarantee redemption, remove market risk or create a bank deposit.

Stability depends on issuer and mechanism¶

Products may use reserves, collateral, algorithms or other arrangements. Issuer powers, governance and liquidity affect whether value can be frozen, redeemed or maintained near the reference. The same brand can exist through different contracts on several networks.

Network fees may use another asset, and on-chain addresses remain pseudonymous.

Preserve exact asset identity and value basis¶

Record contract, network, addresses, token quantity, hash and time. Distinguish reference value from market value at the relevant time and identify the issuer and redemption arrangement where material.

Exchange and issuer records can support attribution and preservation opportunities, but do not infer a person from an address alone.