Building a Stablecoin Rating System

Chiara Munaretto sits down with Garett Jones, co-founder and chief economist at Bluechip, at Bluechip Crypto Safety Conference 2025 in Vienna to explore the economic architecture behind stablecoin trust. Bluechip is the only ratings agency exclusively focused on stablecoin safety, rating coins from A+ to F, and Garrett reveals why there are "plenty of Fs" but no A+ ratings yet.

This conversation unpacks what separates safe stablecoins from dangerous ones, diving into bankruptcy-remote assets, the capital efficiency problems plaguing algorithmic stablecoins, and why US banks successfully banned yield-bearing stablecoins to protect their deposit bases. Garrett also explores the coming bifurcation in the stablecoin market between heavily regulated coins (US/EU) and those operating at arm's length from government oversight like Tether, plus why the market will ultimately consolidate around a small number of dominant coins rather than supporting 100+ options.


Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction at Bluechip Conference 2025 in Vienna
01:29 - What stablecoins really are: Private money, payment innovation, and shadow dollars
03:32 - The KYC problem and why governments limit cash denominations
04:46 - How Bluechip rates stablecoins: A+ to F methodology for economic safety
05:45 - Designing the perfect A+ stablecoin: Assets, audits, and bankruptcy protection
07:39 - Case study: What happens when a $1B stablecoin issuer faces bankruptcy
09:44 - Can algorithmic stablecoins get A ratings? The capital efficiency problem
11:55 - Yield-bearing stablecoins: Why banks banned interest payments
13:30 - Is money becoming private? The evolution of capitalism and bank deposits
14:38 - UAE's AED-backed stablecoin: Government vs private issuance
16:01 - The coming bifurcation: Regulated vs unregulated stablecoin paths
17:06 - The 100 stablecoins problem: Why interoperability won't scale
18:24 - The paradox: Stablecoins replicating fiat currency fragmentation

About Bluechip:
Bluechip is a ratings agency focused exclusively on the economic safety of stablecoins and crypto assets. They rate stablecoins from A+ to F based on provable asset backing, team credibility, bankruptcy-remote structures, and governance controls. Their ratings help users identify which stablecoins are safe enough to recommend "to their grandmothers."

Check ratings at bluechip.org

The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment or legal advice.