thanks for explanations about difference of SBD and stablecoins! :)
We also need to demand to our witnesses to consult an economist before making decisions about our currency
I also feel like a lot of people on Steemit talking many things mostly out of wishful thinking (and often
rather more like cheerleaders), without even bothering to as much as do sufficient research on economics basics (i.e. everything already available online in free access), what to talk about actually consulting with economists.
also good point and comparison with Bonds! personally I have also recently written on this subject matter.
indeed, there is a lot of confusion on many things (in fact even within the Whitepaper itself). for example, author of this post writes:
SBD has been successful at providing a means of value storage and transfer in Steemit because it’s backed by STEEM. Naturally, the Steemit community has faith in the success of STEEM and thus are willing to accept anything backed by STEEM.
as I can udnerstand he means that SBD is "backed by STEEM". (although IMO it should be opposite: STEEM backed by SBD, no? if we are talking that SBD is a stablecoin pegged to USD; that what it supposed to be as I recall, to provide the stability, precisely because it is pegged to USD)
however, if so, what is STEEM itself backed by? :)
this comes to the matter of what constitutes STEEM's value and what influences its price.
now as I can see current STEEM coin price is ~$0.30 and looks like keeps dropping further down.
so, if SBD is "backed by STEEM", then its own value (price) accordingly drops too. (and it does seem so according to CMC)
although in my understanding, STEEM is "backed" by the Total worth of All the Circulated STEEM worth in BTC, i.e. tradeable on Exchanges! (in this regard, all the "Powered Up" STEEM, "locked" within Steemit - doesn't count, since it is NOT involved in trade on Exchanges but instead being held as Stakes or Bonds or as ... crypto tokens in some similar Lending platforms! :D)
while for SBD to be actually a "stablecoin" it must be actually really backed by USD !!!
that is like USDT allegedly keeps the EXACT amount in USD on their bank accounts (supposedly proved by audits) 1 to 1! while as I know (let someone correct me if I' wrong) - there is nothing mentioned or said that SBD has any such "back up" in USD. therefore, it is not even appropriate to use phrase "USD pegged" or as it is said in FAQ:
Steem Dollars - Steem Dollars (commonly abbreviated SBD) are liquid stable-value currency tokens designed to be pegged to $1 USD. Steem Dollars can be traded with STEEM...
LOL! :D "designed to be pegged to $1 USD" ? that's somewhat tricky and elusive verbatim, to put it mildly. it is NOT even said clearly "pegged to $1 USD"!
neither it is mentioned anything at all anywhere that there are some back-up sums of USD kept somewhere on actual bank accounts, supposedly equal to current Circulated Supply of 13,078,166 SBD (according to CMC). besides, as can see on the Exchanges which trade SBD, NON of them actually trade it to any fiat currency (except Korean Wong?)! especially to USD directly. it is also not being traded to any cryptos other than BTC mostly, well, supposedly to BTS too (on OpenLedger DEX) - but Volume is ZERO. :D
in fact according to CMC, SBD can not be also traded to STEEM there either.
(well, yeah, on BlockTrades perhaps - which is not listed on CMC, thus practically acts more like "internal exchange" for Steemit)
so, SBD is quite a peculiar crypto coin, not really much used (if at all) anywhere else than on Steemit.
with present Market Cap at $10,060,750 USD
(and Circulated Supply of 13,078,166 SBD )
while STEEM has $92,908,772 USD Market Cap - that's some >9 times more than SBD.
if SBD "backed by STEEM" - then shouldn't be current price of SBD be accordingly quite higher than its present price of $0.769278 USD? or else I'm quite confused by that such statement that it is "backed by STEEM".
but I do agree with your assessment:
SBD is not a stable coin
first of all, because as I know, Stablecoin must be backed by equal sum in Fiat currency - which is not.
if though we are talking about it being "cryptocurrency backed stablecoin" (as post author wrote) - then de facto both of them, SBD and STEEM are "backed" by BTC which is total worth on Exchanges, thus pegged to BTC price. then it is somewhat questionable whether or not it is appropriate to call it a Stablecoin either, since both of them fluctuate along with BTC price to USD (and in FAQ word "fluctuate" used several times for SBD). in other words, it can hardly be considered "stable". :)
RE: Beyond SBD: A Stablecoin for the World.