A dollar that travels differently
A stablecoin lets a dollar-denominated claim move on public networks. Its visible promise is simple: one token, one dollar. Behind that sentence sit different structures. A reserve-backed issuer holds bank deposits, Treasury bills, or similar assets. A crypto-collateralized system locks volatile assets and uses overcollateralization and liquidation to defend the unit.
Stability moves rather than disappears
The reserve model depends on custody, banking access, asset quality, and a redemption process. The crypto model depends on collateral prices, oracle data, auction design, liquidity, and governance. Both can maintain a narrow price most of the time, but the risks are borne in different places and become visible under different kinds of stress.
The holder and the reserve earn differently
A token holder commonly receives a dollar-like instrument without the interest earned by the backing assets. The issuer or protocol may capture that return while users supply scale and liquidity. This is not necessarily improper, but it should be named. “One dollar” compresses a balance sheet and an income distribution into a single price.
Ask who may redeem
Market price, direct redemption value, reserve value, and legal claim are not identical. Some users cannot redeem with the issuer and must sell to an intermediary. A stablecoin is most informative when we ask not only whether it trades near one dollar, but who has the right to turn it into what, on which day, and after which institution has failed.
This is an independent English rewrite of the argument. Detailed documentary references and statistical definitions remain available in the Chinese research edition; source review is current through August 2026.