AMA: We are Bluechip – an independent, stablecoin rating agency.

AMA: We are Bluechip – an independent, stablecoin rating agency.

Hello r/ethereum, I’m Amey - Ratings Director at Bluechip.

Stablecoins offer a cheaper way to make cross-border transactions and a more reliable way to save in economies with high inflation or unstable financial systems. But how can you tell which stablecoins are truly stable?

Our SMIDGE rating framework analyzes six economic factors and assigns letter-grade ratings (from F to A+) to identify the most reliable stablecoins. You can read the full framework on our website here.

Essentially, the SMIDGE framework evaluates -

• Stability - collateral quality, asset segregation, core stability mechanism
• Management - track record of team, jurisdiction, accountability to token holders
• Implementation - technical risk (currently not tracked)
• Decentralization - censorship risk, blacklisting (only for crypto-backed stablecoins)
• Governance - regulatory protections, redemption terms, voting systems
• External - market sentiment (currently not tracked)

We take a crypto-native, independent, and data-driven approach to stablecoin ratings. Our framework is the first publicly available, factor-based risk model for evaluating stablecoins. Our ratings are publicly available on our website here. Currently, USDT is rated D and USDC is rated B+ by Bluechip.

Last month, we partnered with the Ethereum Foundation to host Bluechip25 in Vienna, the first global conference dedicated to crypto safety. Sign up for updates on next year's Bluechip26 on our website here.

We also host a podcast called Bluechip Dialogues, where our Chief Economist Garett Jones interviews leading figures in crypto. Watch the latest episode with the creator of Facebook’s stablecoin project Diem (formerly Libra) here.

Follow us on Twitter here or LinkedIn here or Telegram channel here.

Ask us anything! I'll be around to answer your questions over the following days.