The cryptocurrency market is on a rollercoaster right now. The past week has been full of scandals, and all of them hurt the market. Everything began with FTX which fell to a classic bank run. After FTX, massive projects like Solana experienced a vast decrease in price because of their centralization levels. To wrap the week up, Crypto.com – one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in the United States – accidentally sent $400 million to the wrong wallet.
While this week was certainly not good for cryptocurrencies, it served as a wake-up call for the crypto community. People are now aware that no matter the size of a project, it might fail. Moreover, big players in the crypto sector have been active more than ever. One example would be Binance which topped up the Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) to $1 billion once again. Another example is KuCoin which is taking extreme measures to ensure transparency toward its users.
Currently, the market is experiencing extreme fear. The amount of speculation happening in the crypto sector right now is very high. Just two days ago, there were speculations that USD Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) depegged from the dollar. While this was true, it is very common. When the market is unusually volatile, such stablecoins might experience a change of 1%-3% in their value and fail to maintain the $1 peg. Such news reminded people of May 2022, when UST, the Luna stablecoin, lost 99% of its value after it depegged from the dollar.
USD Tether (USDT)
Currently, the biggest stablecoin in the market is USD Tether (USDT). This stablecoin has a market capitalization of $66.50 billion, making it the 3rd biggest cryptocurrency in the whole market. This stablecoin made its debut back in 2014 when it got the name Realcoin; for your information, this stablecoin got the name USD Tether years after its debut.
Back then, USDT operated as a second-layer crypto token on the Bitcoin blockchain. Nevertheless, today, this stablecoin is available in more than 6 blockchains; including Ethereum, Tron, Algorand, and OMG.
What makes USDT unique is its consistency. Throughout the years, USDT has experienced both bull and bear markets and is still alive. Imagine being one of the first stablecoins in the market and successfully maneuvering your way around the most volatile market out there nonstop for 8 years.
Other than the fact that this project survived, USDT has reached many important partnerships. One of the most important partnerships would be the most recent one. From the 3rd of November, people have the option to withdraw USDT from over 24,000 ATMs spread around Brazil. While the crypto market keeps evolving, USDT proves to be the most stable stablecoin available. Whether this stablecoin is the best, however, only time can tell.
USD Coin (USDC)
The second biggest stablecoin in the market is USD Coin (USDC). This stablecoin is the 5th biggest cryptocurrency in the market with a market capitalization of $44.10 billion. Right after USDC, we have Binance USD (BUSD), with a market capitalization of $22.50 billion. USDC made its debut back in 2018, however, the amount of USDC put out was limited. The founder of this stablecoin, the Centre, claims that this stablecoin is issued by regulated financial institutions.
This stablecoin, similar to USDT, is designed for a modern world where cash is becoming less common. What USDC hasn’t gone through yet, however, is a full bear cycle. Currently, as we are going through a bear cycle, USDC is holding on just fine. Nevertheless, we are almost certain that this cycle is far from over. Whether this stablecoin holds on and survives until the very end is still unknown. Understanding that powerful people and institutions support USDC, this stablecoin might just be able to stay alive until the next bull market. With Circle and Coinbase as its joint founders, USDC has everything it needs to go toe-to-toe with USDT. Being closely and directly connected to one exchange is not always a good thing for a stablecoin, though. This is because if Coinbase goes through what FTX just went through, USDC is more than likely to fail.
USDT vs. USDC – Which One is Better?
To be honest, only time can tell. While both are top-tier stablecoins, USDT has been in the market for a longer time than USDC by far. To put this into perspective, USDT has been around for 8 years while USDC has only been here for 4 years. To be correct, USDC has only 2-3 years of experience in the market as it was available to only a certain amount of people when it joined the market. Granit Academy, a crypto influencer with more than 6 years of experience, made a poll asking his crypto Twitter this same exact question. According to the results, most people believe that USDT is the better one.