On 29 August 2024, CCData Research unveiled the August 2024 edition of its “Stablecoins & CBDCs” report, providing a comprehensive overview of recent trends and market dynamics within the stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) sectors.
CCData, authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a benchmark administrator, is a prominent provider of institutional-grade digital asset data. By leveraging tick data from globally recognized exchanges and integrating multiple datasets, CCData delivers a comprehensive market overview, including trade, derivatives, order books, as well as historical, social, and blockchain data.
In this article, we take a look at the key takeaways of this comprehensive, well-researched report.
CBDCs
Throughout August, various countries made notable progress, with Azerbaijan’s central bank voicing concerns about the potential impact of launching a CBDC on its monetary policy. In contrast, the Bank of Russia is optimistic, projecting widespread adoption of the digital ruble within the next 5-7 years as part of its effort to modernize the financial system. Meanwhile, Indonesia advanced to the second phase of its CBDC trial, focusing on broader applications.
According to CCData, India’s CBDC initiative achieved a major milestone in August, with 5 million users now participating, reflecting rapid adoption. Simultaneously, Hong Kong moved closer to a tokenized market with the launch of a WCBDC sandbox, demonstrating significant progress in its CBDC efforts. Additionally, Palau made headlines with a historic CBDC transaction on the XRP Ledger, underscoring the increasing global relevance of blockchain-based digital payments.
Stablecoins
CCData says there was a notable rise in the stablecoin market, which saw its total market capitalization increase by 2.89% in August to reach $169 billion. This marks the eleventh consecutive month of growth and the highest end-of-month market cap since April 2022, setting a new all-time high for stablecoins, excluding algorithmic versions.
CCData further reports that PayPal’s PYUSD experienced a substantial surge in both market cap and trading volume during August. The market capitalization of PYUSD increased by 56.6% to $960 million, marking its fifth consecutive month of growth and solidifying its position as the sixth-largest stablecoin by market cap. The growing demand for PYUSD is attributed to attractive incentives available on decentralized lending protocols.
The report also notes a significant increase in demand for Euro Coin (EURC), which saw its market capitalization rise by 71.3% to $53.7 million in August. This surge represents the highest market cap for EURC since October 2022, with demand driven by the implementation of MiCA regulations. As a result, trading volumes for EURC pairs on centralized exchanges have also increased for the third consecutive month, reaching $36.7 million in August.
Finally, CCData reveals that Tether’s USDT achieved a new market capitalization high of $117 billion in August, reflecting a 2.59% increase. Tether also announced plans to expand its offerings with the introduction of stablecoins pegged to the British Pound (GBPT) and the UAE Dirham (AEDT), bringing its total stablecoin offerings to eight.