[jeffrwells]

Can anyone explain in layman’s terms why stablecoins need to exist?

What can you do with a stablecoin like tether that is not possible with USD?

All of the use cases I read about seem to say “trade tether for Bitcoin” etc, but you can trade USD for bitcoin.

[matthewdgreen]

Stablecoins are the killer app that everyone has been waiting for. When implemented properly (with reliable and regulated backing) they allow people to build financial apps that easily transact real money, without paying a fortune to a payment provider. Combined with scalable blockchains, I suspect they’re going to be a huge force in the future payment/finance ecosystem. That future ecosystem may not look radically different from what we have today, it might even be most of the same players: but there will be different “rails” moving money at a lower cost, and new players that wouldn’t have been able to start up without this.

Disclosure: I don’t care much about stablecoins but I am working on regulatory compliance tech for decentralized currencies, and my instinct is that stablecoins are where all the business interest is.

[icapybara]

I don't think this answer's OP's questions. Why can't you easily transact real USD?

[8note]

> without paying a fortune to a payment provider.

I'm not sure how you're avoiding that, especially once the stable coins are regulated? You still have payment processors to pay, just with different names

[smoovb]

You may have heard of a country called Myanmar? Population of 54 million?

You might be surprised to learn that a citizen from Myanmar does not have access to a local bank offering USD accounts, nor do they get offers in the mail from Amex or Citibank. Their sole USD option may be holding cash under their mattress.

With a USD stablecoin, this citizen is no longer subject arbitrary exchange rates, expensive banks and risky currency storage. They can save money independently of any government or financial institution.

[shkkmo]

I have been wondering who the holders of Tether are, I really hope you are wrong. If people really are confusing the stability guarantees of the USD with a scammy cryptocurrency token like Tether, then it makes Tether lies all the more morally irresponsible.

[jeffrwells]

No need to be rude smoovb, I was genuinely curious

[ceejayoz]

Avoiding KYC.