Table 1. Main differences between... | Emerald Publishing

Table 1.

Main differences between conventional cryptocurrencies and stablecoins

	Cryptocurrencies	Stablecoins
Definition	Peer-to-peer virtually represented cash exchanged on the basis of blockchain	Cryptocurrency with the backing of commodities, fiat currency or any other real-world assets
Reason for the creation	To remove the third-party intermediaries that are traditionally required to conduct digital monetary transfers	To represent a less volatile alternative to conventional cryptocurrencies
Use	Mainly used for exchanging, trading and online payments	Primarily used in real-world transactions involving cryptocurrency
Volatility	High: proved	Medium-high: partially confirmed
Collaterals	Absence of collaterals. The price is based only on the demand	Commodities, fiat currencies, other cryptocurrencies or seigniorage
Financial return	Investors can leverage volatility for cashing out cryptocurrencies’ value	No opportunities for achieving improved returns because stablecoins are linked to existing fiat currency or other assets’ value
Some among main authors	Bezhovski, Davcev, Leung, Lytras, Mendoza-Tello, Mitreva, Mora, Pujol-López, Sillaber, Treiblmaier	Berentsen, Bullmann, Dell'Erba, Klemm, Ma, Pinna, Schär, Wang, Wu

	Cryptocurrencies	Stablecoins
Definition	Peer-to-peer virtually represented cash exchanged on the basis of blockchain	Cryptocurrency with the backing of commodities, fiat currency or any other real-world assets
Reason for the creation	To remove the third-party intermediaries that are traditionally required to conduct digital monetary transfers	To represent a less volatile alternative to conventional cryptocurrencies
Use	Mainly used for exchanging, trading and online payments	Primarily used in real-world transactions involving cryptocurrency
Volatility	High: proved	Medium-high: partially confirmed
Collaterals	Absence of collaterals. The price is based only on the demand	Commodities, fiat currencies, other cryptocurrencies or seigniorage
Financial return	Investors can leverage volatility for cashing out cryptocurrencies’ value	No opportunities for achieving improved returns because stablecoins are linked to existing fiat currency or other assets’ value
Some among main authors	Bezhovski, Davcev, Leung, Lytras, Mendoza-Tello, Mitreva, Mora, Pujol-López, Sillaber, Treiblmaier	Berentsen, Bullmann, Dell'Erba, Klemm, Ma, Pinna, Schär, Wang, Wu