Tether (USDT-USD)

FROM THE REAL WORLD TO THE BLOCKCHAIN WORLD

One of the big revolutions brought (again) by the Ethereum Blockchain, through DeFi, is the introduction of stablecoins.

A stablecoin is a crypto-currency deployed on a blockchain, and is (usually) backed by a real asset (or a basket of assets). It therefore provides a direct link between fiat currencies and crypto-currencies.

The 1st interest of stablecoin is that it guarantees a fixed exchange rate against the asset it is backed by. If we take the example of Tether (USDT), the stablecoin backed by the US dollar ($73 billion market cap), we have the following relationship 1 USDT = $1.

We can see that by using stablecoin, we can benefit from the advantages offered by blockchains, such as fast and secure trading, 24/7 accessibility, lower transaction fees, and more, while at the same time eliminating (in principle) the phenomenon that scares most people in crypto-currencies: volatility.

Stablecoin is a great way to take your first step and get your bearings in the world of crypto-currencies. You can take it and benefit from all the advantages offered by DeFi (staking, farming, etc., we'll cover these topics in a future article.)

Note that stablecoins can be backed by any real asset, not necessarily a fiat currency! Some of them already allow you to trade stocks like Amazon or Facebook on advanced blockchains!