Data provided by Coin Metrics confirms a rapid increase in the capitalization of stable coins since the bloody dump in March this year. We currently have 11 stable coins on the market, such as USDT, TUSD, SAI, PAX, DAI and others, but among the most popular we rank USDT, which controls up to 85.1% market share with a total value of $ 8.8 billion.
To clarify when stable coins are used, Coin Metrics also looked at transfers during the day.
The USDT-ETH pair’s investigation shows a clear pattern of use around 02:00 to 16:00 UTC, which fits the opening hours of the Asian and European stock markets. At the end of the day, there is a visible decline in transfers, which indicates the closure of the New York Stock Exchange. We can also observe a significantly increased number of transfers since mid-March this year.
Other interesting facts include the use of the USDC, which had a huge number of transfers on March 12, when there was the biggest drop in the BTC price on the market. This demonstrates the clear choice of traders and the recognition of the USDC as a stable safe haven. Most transfers took place between 01:00 and 08:00 UTC, which corresponds to the Asian market and their hours.
The following findings were published as part of an extensive analysis:
- USDT-ETH transfers are concentrated mainly during Asian and European business hours,
- USDC transfers focus mainly on Asian markets,
- the activity of stable coin PAX is more dispersed, which may mean that it is used for non-institutional purposes,
- and DAI transfers are oriented mainly during US hours.
As we can see, stable coins are already an integral part of cryptocurrency markets and investors will always find in them the stability and protection against high liquidity that we sometimes encounter.
See the complete analysis here