What is Reserve?
Reserve Stabilization Protocol Prior to the full implementation of the Reserve protocol, the Reserve core team may publish updates to this white paper, even substantial updates. It is therefore subject to correction, completion and amendment without notice. Please visit reserve.org for the most up-to-date documentation of the Reserve protocol.
The volatility of existing cryptocurrencies significantly reduces their usefulness. A cryptocurrency with stable value would permit much wider usage as a stable store of value, medium of exchange, and standard of deferred payment. Demand for a short-term and long-term stable cryptocurrency is obvious. The feasibility of implementing one is not—clear flaws can be demonstrated with many recently proposed designs . In this paper, we present arguments for why such a coin should implement an exchangerate peg to a fiat currency first and a basket of assets later, using off-chain foreign collateral that has been tokenized by a diversity of issuers. We then describe the Reserve Protocol, a decentralized stablecoin system that scales supply with demand and is built to maintain 100% or more on-chain collateral backing. This design strikes a careful balance between stability, decentralization, and profitability while supporting arbitrary increases or decreases in demand. For these reasons, we believe the Reserve to be the ideal economic building block for the blockchain ecosystem and a credible alternative to fiat money.