Stablecoins Explained: Mechanisms, Depegging Risks, Costs, and Portfolio Roles
Blockchain
TradFi
Stablecoins are the closest thing to a "cash layer" in the crypto market: margin for trading, on-chain payments, DeFi collateral, and risk-off positioning all rely heavily on them. However, behind names like USDT, USDC, and DAI lie fundamentally different reserve structures, redemption paths, compliance boundaries, and failure modes. Treating all stablecoins as "one dollar" can lead to unexpected losses from de-pegging, freezes, cross-chain costs, or yield packaging. This course starts from a mechanistic classification, explaining how de-pegging and bank runs occur, how the true costs of holding and transferring accumulate, and how yield-bearing products stack risk beneath a stable facade—helping you establish selection criteria, diversification, and event-driven discipline, rather than simply chasing high yields.
About the Course
The course is structured in six progressive sections: the role and classification of stablecoins within the ecosystem; the mechanistic differences among fiat-backed, overcollateralized, and algorithmic stablecoins; de-pegging transmission and early signals; cross-chain transfers, swaps, gas fees, and hidden frictions; the risk layering of yield-bearing / wrapped products; and finally, a checklist for portfolio selection and post-mortem review. This entire text is for educational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. Issuer rules, audits, and on-chain data should be based on the latest publicly available information.
What You Will Learn
The main types of stablecoins and their respective trust assumptions and use cases
The mechanistic differences and historical lessons of fiat-backed, overcollateralized, and algorithmic stablecoins
Common paths to de-pegging, bank runs, and liquidity breaks, along with observable signals
The real impact of cross-chain transfers, swaps, gas fees, and slippage on "stable holding"
The yield sources and risk layers of yield-bearing stablecoins and DeFi wrappers
How to establish basic discipline for stablecoin selection, portfolio diversification, and event windows
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