Is Saver Token the Stable Crypto Money We Have All Been Waiting For?

The dream of every crypto-enthusiast is for a stable crypto-currency to serve as an alternative means of exchange to fiat. Bitcoin’s volatility makes it a non-starter. Stable-coins cannot possibly serve as an alternative as, unlike Bitcoin, their value remains tied to fiat. They are also not stable. Like their fiat counterparts they are depreciating assets. Since 1947 the US dollar has lost on average 33% of its value every 10 years. With their value tied to the US dollar Tether, USDcoin, and the rest are doing the same thing.

But is the dream of stable money is now being realised with Saver Token? Launched on the Waves blockchain, the tokens track the value of the US Consumer Price Index (CPI-U). As the US dollar continues to debase the CPI-U rises. The aim is for a “Saver” to buy the same goods in 5, 10 or 30 years’ time as it does today. That is stable money — on the blockchain.

Saver Token is like Bitcoin. Its value, created by token holders, remains on the blockchain. That keeps it separate from legacy fiat systems. The only difference is that Saver Token’s value is stable because of the CPI-U.

In the past money was simply accepted as being stable. That is what money meant. Ever before the first coins, people gave gold and silver stable value, measured by weight, to serve as a means of exchange. Today, instead of giving gold a stable value, token holders give Saver Tokens stability by tracking the CPI-U. It is the same process that has been going on for thousands of years. The only difference with Saver Token is that in the past people simply assumed gold and silver had stable value. Today the token holders consciously commit to tracking the CPI-U when they buy. This commitment is summarised in the Saver’s Pledge on the website:

“Like all currencies you create the value of Saver Token. You are also responsible for maintaining its stability. Only buy Savers if you are committed to trading them at or above the Target Price based on the US Consumer Price Index (CPI-U). This shared self-interest and self-discipline of token holders is what keeps the value of Savers stable. It is your responsibility.”

With stable money people can start doing everything they always wanted to do as soon as Bitcoin showed money without government was possible. For example:

Buy and Sell. People can buy and sell with the token. Simply convert the agreed price into Savers at the current CPI-U value published on the website or traded on the Waves exchange. Buying and selling with Saver Token restores justice to our most common form of interaction.

Send Money. Savers can be sent securely to anyone in the world. All people need to receive the money is to share with you their Waves public key. They can create their key by setting up a Waves account at https://wavesplatform.com/products-exchange. As Savers do not depreciate they can hold the funds in their Waves account until they are needed. The Waves platform is decentralised meaning the funds cannot be hacked and stolen.

Lend and Borrow. Because they depreciate all fiat currencies are unjust. The loan favours the debtor because they know they will only have to pay back a fraction of the loan as the currency will have devalued by maturity. To compensate for this the lender charges more interest than they would if the money was stable. The lending process is debased because rather than being a win/win transaction, one party will lose depending on whether the rate of inflation exceeds the estimates that determined the rate of interest on the loan. With stable money the transaction is clear, fair and upfront. Both parties know what they are agreeing to as the money will have the same value at the end of the loan as it had at the beginning. This makes lending much easier. Ease of transaction means a better economy for all.

Save. In the United States inflation forces people to earn on average 33% on their money every 10 years just to stay even. Saver Token enables saving because the tokens are designed not to lose their value. If a Saver Token is worth $10 in 5 years’ time rather than the $2.55 today that is because the US dollar has declined in value, not that the value of Saver Token has changed. Saver Token is a straight forward way people can preserve their capital in the same way that gold coins kept their value for hundreds of years.

Diversification. Like Bitcoin the value of Saver Tokens is outside the fiat financial system. This makes both Bitcoin and Saver Token ways to diversify away from the risks associated with the fiat system. As diversification is the bedrock of sound investing, holding assets like Bitcoin and Saver Token help build a robust investment portfolio.

On-boarding and trading crypto-currencies. Stablecoins are helping people to enter the crypto-currency eco-system and to trade. Yet, stablecoins like Tether and USDcoin who offer redemptions back into fiat, carry risks that Saver Token does not. These include regulatory risks and the risk of bank failure. The de-risking provided by Saver Token is enhanced by the token trading on the Waves decentralised exchanged (DEX) which cannot be hacked and funds stolen.

All these functions are available to users today. The tokens trade under the ticker PCV token/USD pair on the Waves Platform. Tokens are issued by New Zealand based Forecast Services Limited. The company also maintains a reserve so that it is easy to move in and out of Saver Token according to one’s need.

Bitcoin was launched in 2009. Over ten years Bitcoin has demonstrated that people can give value to a currency without the need for government or any other institution. Has the confidence that comes with ten years of use prepared the ground for Saver Token and stable money? Like Bitcoin, the design is straight forward. People can start using Saver Token today. As its popularity grows so too can be the ways it can be used to pay, save, borrow and loan as part of our everyday lives.