Before I start I am not an economic expert. Just a curious enthusiast who is trying to figure out how things work.
Do stable coins create inflation to the fiat currency?
This is the doubt I have. Do I have an answer? I don't think so. So If you are looking for a concrete answer you can stop reading :) These are just my opinions.
Small intro(if you know skip this part)
- What is a stable coin?
These are the cryptocurrencies that have a stable price compare to something(can be another fiat currency(like US dollar), commodities(like gold), or other cryptos/assets). - How does it work
- Pegged stable coins
Even there are many currencies circulating now have a fixed exchange rate. I am not going to discuss the Gold standard other such things whenever we have a discussion about currency exchange. For example, the CFA franc(Central African/West African) and CFP franc are pegged to the Euro( This is how France still controls most of central Africa, another time discussion). Most of the middle eastern currencies pegged to USD. Kuwaiti Dinar, Saudi riyal, UAE Dirham etc.
And arguably the Chinese Renminbi too :)
When it comes to Cryptocurrencies, they claim they hold a deposit that is equal to fiat currency. Tether (USDT) and TrueUSD are few examples. They are audited for verifying the claim. - Algorithmic stable coins
Computer algorithms manipulate the price to make it stable. Few explanations claim it is similar to how a centralized bank act to stabilize the price of a floating currency but controlling the inflation.
Note: I am not discussing the crypto Collateralized coins.
- Pegged stable coins
Money Creation
In most economies, banks create more money than the central bank printed money. Note money is not equal to the physical currency we have. The number of circulating currency vary though out the year. They print more money in the festive season. This scenario change from countries to countires. The Scandinavian countries are famous for not using printed money, almost all the transactions are through card payments.
How banks create money?
Here is one small example. Let's say I have been issued a loan to buy a house, the loan amount is $1Million("yes, I can afford that !" haha). ATe bank has to do in most of the countries is to give a very small portion of the amount to the central bank as collateral( To know more about this learn about repo rates and reverse repo rates in a given country). Mostly that is 1-3%. So 97-99% of $1Million is created by the bank just electronically. That money was not there before.
Is a newly mined stable coin is equal to printing new money?
Each time a new algorithmic stable coin is created does that add to the inflation of creating new money? I think it depends on what we do with the new coin. As I understand the majority of current stable coins are used only in the crypto exchanges. If we are not using them in the real world I think it won't be adding to the money circulation. I am sure the central banks are also looking into this and that is why they all are planning to create a stable coin themselves as Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
What are your thoughts?