NIST Internal Report 1 NIST IR 8408 ipd 2 Understanding Stablecoin 3 Technology and Related Security 4 Considerations 5 Initial Public Draft 6 Peter Mell 7 Dylan Yaga 8 9 This publication is available free of charge from: 10 https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.IR.8408.ipd 11 12 NIST Internal Report 13 NIST IR 8408 ipd 14 Understanding Stablecoin 15 Technology and Related Security 16 Considerations 17 18 Initial Public Draft 19 Peter Mell 20 Dylan Yaga 21 Computer Securit y Division 22 Information Technology Laboratory 23 24 This publication is available free of charge from: 25 https://doi.org /10.6028/ NIST.IR.8408.ipd 26 October 2022 27 28 U.S. Department of Commerce 29 Gina M. Raimondo, Secretary 30 National Institute of Standards and Technology 31 Laurie E. Locascio, NIST Director and Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology 32 NIST IR 8408 ipd (Initial Public Draft) Stablecoin Technology and October 2022 Security Considerations Certain commercial entities, equipment, or materials may be identified in this document in order to describe an 33 experimental procedure or concept adequately. Such identification is not intended to imply recommendation or 34 endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), nor is it intended to imply that the 35 entities, materials, or equipment are necessarily the best available for the purpose. 36 NIST Technical Series Policies 37 Copyright, Fair Use, and Licensing Statements 38 NIST Technical Series Publication Identifier Syntax 39 Publication History 40 Approved by the NIST Editorial Review Board on YYYY- MM-DD [will be added upon final publication] 41 How to C ite this NIST Technical Series Publication : 42 Mell P, Yaga D ( 2022) Understanding Stablecoin Technology and Related Security Considerations . (National 43 Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD), NIST Interagency or Internal Report (IR) NIST IR 8408 44 ipd. https://doi.org/ 10.6028/NIST.IR.8408.ipd 45 Author ORCID iDs 46 Peter Mell : 0000- 0003 -2938 -897X 47 Dylan Yaga : 0000- 0003- 4058 -3645 48 Public Comment Period 49 October 5, 2022 – January 6, 2023 50 Contact Information 51 NISTIR8408@nist.gov 52 53 National Institute of Standards and Technology 54 Attn: Computer Security Division , Information Technology Laboratory 55 100 Bureau Drive (Mail Stop 8930 ) Gaithersburg, MD 20899 -8930 56 All comments are subject to release under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). 57 NIST IR 8408 ipd (Initial Public Draft) Stablecoin Technology and October 2022 Security Considerations i Abstract 58 Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies whose price is pegged to that of another asset (typically one 59 with low price volatility). The market for stablecoins has grown tremendou sly – up to almost 60 $200 billion USD in 2022. These coins are being used extensively in newly developing 61 paradigms for digital money and commerce as well as for decentralized finance technology. T his 62 work provide s a technical description of stablecoin techn ology to enable reader understanding of 63 the variety of ways in which stablecoins are architected and implemented. This includes a 64 descriptive definition, commonly found properties, and distinguishing characteristics , as well as 65 an explor ation of stablecoin taxonomies, descriptions of the most common types, and examples 66 from a list of top stablecoins by market capitalization. This document also explores related 67 security, safety, and trust issues with an analysis conducted from a computer science an d 68 information technology security perspective as opposed to the financial analysis and economics 69 focus of much of the stablecoin literature . 70 Keywords 71 blockchain; cryptocurrency; decentralized finance; security; smart contract; stablecoin . 72 Reports on Comput er Systems Technology 73 The Infor