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by skybrian 1451 days ago
The reason they failed seems rather general. They are based on assets that can go down in value fast when there is a run to get out of the stablecoin and not enough traders to handle the volume. Essentially, the stablecoin needs to be fully backed by traders who need to be prepared to back most of the market cap by trading at scale.

An "algorithmic" stablecoin allows anyone to do that trade, but it doesn't make any particular guarantee that these traders will be there when they're needed. And I don't see how that can be automated unless the algorithm already has the assets, as with an overcollateralized margin loan?

So, while innovation is hard to rule out, it seems like you need a good explanation for why this time it's different.

1 comments

It goes without saying that algorithmic stablecoins have to be overcollateralized. The remaining debate is about the precise mechanism for contracting supply. https://vitalik.ca/general/2022/05/25/stable.html