Briefing

Why Stablecoins Fail: An Economist’s Post-Mortem on Terra


Abstract: Why do some stablecoins, such as Terra's UST, fail but others do not? Was Terra just an unlucky victim of a classic bank run or speculative attack? Or was its high-yield deposit offering doomed to fail like a Ponzi scheme? What is the limit of the stablecoin's algorithm? What makes payment stable? In this article, we'll dive into potential answers to these questions about the failed stablecoin.

Keywords: cryptocurrency; terra; blockchain; stablecoin; liquidity;

Access Documents

Authors

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond

Part of Series: Richmond Fed Economic Brief

Publication Date: 2022-07

Volume: 22

Issue: 24