Bitcoin Vs Tether — Selecting your Base Currency

Unstable vs. Stable coins — the main battleground for crypto. Both share in common that they use blockchain technology, but differ fundamentally in ideology. Which should you choose for your base currency?

Stable coins vs unstable coins?

ETH/XRP/LTC vs USDT/TUSD/USDC?

…Which type should you use as a base coin?

These are questions most of our users have when they first start trading. As it turns out, there are benefits and drawbacks to both types.

In traditional markets, such as indexes, currencies or commodities, setting a base currency is not really much of a contested question. Traders often don’t wonder whether they should trade from Euros, Dollars or Yen. Most just trade with the currency that they own, or the currency that has more liquidity. In traditional markets, any given choice will also be a relatively stable currency. In crypto trading, this last characteristic and many more unique features are what sets the coins apart.

In this blog, we will narrow the discussion down to the coins that best represent both types of coins. In one corner of the ring, we can find USDT, defending stable coins, and in the opposite one BTC, for unstable coins. Overall, only 12% of Cryptohopper users use stable coins as their base coins, but that…