StableUnit

During periods of high volatility, traders may seek refuge in low-volatility assets like US dollars. However, in addition to potential tax implications, trading crypto to US dollars may create delays and additional complexity due to bank withdrawals. Trading back and forth in a low-volatility cryptocurrency may help avoid these issues and allow traders to work more efficiently.

Cryptocurrency can be transferred and used as payments for goods and services almost instantly. As price-stable cryptocurrencies gain adoption, they will be widely circulated as an instant and reliable method of payment with wide acceptance. This reliability and convenience can lead to the mass adoption on the much higher scale than bitcoin and other volatile cryptocurrencies.

Price-stable cryptocurrencies act as a gateway between fiat money and cryptocurrencies. For example, an investor who may want to try using cryptocurrency may not want to buy Bitcoin due to its notoriously volatile nature and instead may make a purchase of a price-stable cryptocurrency. Similarly, veteran traders may park funds in price-stable cryptocurrencies ready for trading opportunities allowing them much quicker access to deploy funds into other assets like Bitcoin rather than having to wait for the banking system and exchanges to clear these funds.

In the long-run credit and debt markets may use price-stable cryptocurrencies as collateral for securing debts. This is because they may prefer these assets over other more volatile cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Similarly, exchanges can use holdings of price-stable cryptocurrencies for calculating collateral for trading margin.

International trading for countries which might prefer cryptocurrency for political reasons (i.e. Russia, Turkey, Jordan). In some jurisdictions, holding foreign currencies may be subject to additional taxes, capital controls or may be illegal. In addition, foreign currencies may be scarce due to these restrictions and black-market demand. For these reasons, some investors may choose to diversify their holdings into a price-stable cryptocurrency that may mimic the price of these foreign holdings without necessarily taking on the risks associated with them.

(Ukraine, Argentina, South Africa). In some jurisdictions, holding money in the banking system with questionable property rights or other political uncertainty may be risky. Similarly, the systems of international money transfer may not always be operational in these jurisdictions. Holding physical foreign currency may also prove problematic if capital controls are instituted. For these reasons, it may be much less risky for people to hold an instrument like a price-stable cryptocurrency.

In some jurisdictions, trading crypto to crypto is not taxable. However, trading crypto back to currency is a taxable event. This means that traders seeking a temporary respite from volatility may find it more efficient to move funds to a price-stable cryptocurrency than to move these funds back to USD.

Temporary currency for countries with extremely weak local currencies (i.e. Ecuador, Panama, Venezuela, Zimbabwe). Inflation rates in some countries can be extremely high. This provides stable cryptocurrencies with an important use-case especially when US dollars or similar stable currency may not be immediately available due to other restrictions and/or if these currencies are trading at a premium due to trade embargoes, local regulations or scarcity.