[spaceman_2020]

Try this: go to any OTC crypto market in any African country, or any country with high inflation and poor economic outcomes, like Philippines or Turkey.

Ask around for the going rate for USDT/USDC

Then check the official USD vs local currency exchange rate

Compare the two and ask yourself: why are ordinary people on OTC platforms willing to pay a substantial premium for USDT/USDC?

If you’re on HN, you’re likely smart enough to figure out why. And no, its not just plain “money laundering”.

[mamidon]

Maybe I'm not so smart.. but why would USD stable coins command a premium over USD itself?

I totally get why the official exchange rate is probably bogus, but I would expect the black market rate to be the same for USD/USDT/USDC

[spaceman_2020]

Because it's hard to acquire and store USD. Banks - if they even have them - won't give them to you easily. Currency traders will charge a huge premium. And neither fixes the problem that you will be limited to hard cash - not easily spendable online and tough to store.

USDC/USDT are liquid on exchanges as well as OTC markets, very easy to store, and increasingly easy to spend.

Much of the western world is deeply ignorant of the sheer scale of this demand for USDT in the Global South. There are billions of people in these regions, and one thing is clear across all of them: they will prefer USD over their local currencies, but it's too hard to acquire this USD, especially in a digital form.

Hence, USDT/USDC.

I've personally hired people from Phillippines and Nigeria who preferred getting paid in USDT over their local currencies.

[grotorea]

I think this is in large part because Anti-Money Laundering/Know Your Customer regulations and lagging financial infrastructure make USD not work as well as internet money for the Global South. The stablecoins just decided to throw that all away and hope that the regulators don't catch up.

But, is the utility of USDT/USDC all meaningful to BTC? Those people aren't asking to hold BTC and those who are are doing so because they want to avoid the regulations governments imposed on money transfers is my guess.

[spaceman_2020]

No, they’re doing so because holding USD is better than holding their own currencies.

It’s simply economically smarter to hold a currency that appreciates against your own. USD outperforms every currency, and USDT just makes it easier to hold.