作者：蒋海波，PANews
稳定币被誉为加密世界皇冠上的明珠，而 FDUSD 则是近年来冉冉升起的新星。自2023年6月推出以来，短短几个月内，FDUSD发行量已超过25亿枚，成为第三大法币抵押稳定币。
FDUSD 由香港金融公司 First Digital Limited 的子公司 FD121 Limited 发行。它是一种以 1:1 的比例与美元挂钩的稳定币。每发行 1 个 FDUSD 就有 1 美元的储备资产，这意味着其价值由与发行数量等值的储备支撑。
FDUSD的崛起离不开币安的支持。目前，币安地址仍是FDUSD的主要持有者，参与Launchpool的FDUSD超过10亿枚。此外，币安还推出了多个FDUSD的免费交易对，以及BUSD到FDUSD的1:1闪兑服务。
为了更深入地了解FDUSD的背景、发展和未来规划，PANews采访了First Digital战略传播与合作伙伴主管Karen Tang。 Karen在采访中澄清了与币安的关系。币安在 First Digital 中不拥有任何经济利益或所有权。两者是相互独立的，双方都是“在对的时间遇到对的人”。对于FDUSD在加密货币市场中的重要作用和发展前景，它希望在平衡合规和监管的同时实现增长，并确保其在中心化金融（CeFi）和去中心化金融（DeFi）生态系统中的效用。此外，First Digital 正在使用 FDUSD 作为案例研究，以其成功作为模板，最终考虑推出其他与货币挂钩的稳定币。
采访原文整理如下
PANews：USDT和USDC长期主导稳定币市场。为什么去年这个时候推出 FDUSD？
First Digital：我们推出FDUSD，一是因为我们作为持牌信托公司，有能力发行稳定币；其次，我们之前也考虑过发行稳定币，但需要等待合适的时机；最后，我们相信去年是正确的时机。
尽管USDT是市场上最大的稳定币，但它仍然没有得到广泛的信任。其储备一直比较不透明，其创始人的身份也比较隐秘。尽管 USDC 更加合法，但其市场份额正在下降。不幸的是，作为一家以美国为中心的公司，Circle 受到美国监管机构的管辖。在亚洲，到目前为止我们还没有看到合法的稳定币。
PANews：与其他稳定币相比，FDUSD 有哪些竞争优势？
First Digital: FDUSD was developed in Asia and operates in a friendly regulatory environment and is not subject to the hostile environment of the United States. FDUSD adopts a compliance-first strategy and aims to become the first regulated stablecoin under the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). FDUSD has grown rapidly in a short period of time, and we hope to continue growing while balancing compliance and regulation and ensuring its utility in the centralized finance (CeFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem.
PANews: For stablecoins, price stability is very important. Can you explain the minting and redemption process of FDUSD and how to keep the price around $1?
First Digital: FDUSD maintains a 1:1 exchange rate because its reserves are held entirely in cash, overnight repos, and Treasury bills. These are low-risk, highly liquid assets. We only allow institutions to mint/redempt directly with our issuing entity FD121, we do not use FDUSD's reserves. It's actually very simple, you mint it with US dollars and get the equivalent FDUSD.
PANews: How are the FDUSD reserves distributed now, and what measures has the team taken to prove the existence of the reserves?
First Digital: As mentioned, reserves are held in cash, overnight repos, and Treasury bills. We have third-party auditors who issue attestation reports every month to verify this and provide assurance to our clients.
PANews: Binance seems to be a strong supporter of FDUSD, providing such things as a 1:1 swap between BUSD and FDUSD and the opportunity for FDUSD holders to participate in the Binance Launchpool. Can you reveal the details of the cooperation between FDUSD and Binance?
First Digital: Binance has no financial interest or ownership in First Digital and we are independent of each other. But we were lucky enough that Binance actually supported FDUSD like a launch pad, which definitely facilitated our rapid growth. Binance is always looking for more legitimate stablecoins to add to its platform and has been looking for stablecoins developed in Asia, so this is the right time, right place for both of us.
PANews: For stablecoin issuers, dealing with legal and regulatory hurdles is critical. What measures has FDUSD taken in this regard? Considering that Hong Kong recently issued a regulatory consultation document on fiat-collateralized stablecoins, has the team actively communicated with the regulatory authorities?
First Digital: Yes, we are in active dialogue with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). As mentioned earlier, we aim to become the first regulated stablecoin in Hong Kong and participate in the development of the consultation document on Hong Kong’s stablecoin regulatory framework. First Digital takes a compliance and regulatory first approach, so we believe this is critical to demonstrating credibility and trust.
PANews: What do you think of the current role of stablecoins in the cryptocurrency market and its future prospects?
First Digital: Stablecoins play a vital role in the crypto market, providing stability and liquidity. They are particularly important as a vehicle for remittances or cross-border transfers, especially for the unbanked who live in unstable economies with inflation or currency weakness. Additionally, they function as a store of value, a medium of exchange, and a unit of account.
The future of stablecoins looks promising due to growing regulatory scrutiny, their potential integration with central bank digital currencies, and their disruption of the traditional financial system and importance in decentralized finance (DeFi) . Looking ahead, the future of stablecoins in the crypto market seems promising. Since their introduction, they have gained significant traction and adoption, and their popularity is likely to continue to grow.
PANews: Real World Asset (RWA) projects were very popular last year, and stablecoins can be considered one of the early forms of RWA. What are your thoughts on interest-bearing stablecoins?
First Digital: The idea of interest-bearing stablecoins is to provide users with an alternative to traditional savings accounts or other investment methods, and users can earn passive income by holding stablecoins. These stablecoins typically do this by investing the underlying assets or funds in various financial instruments, such as money market funds, decentralized finance protocols, lending platforms, or other income-generating activities.
Interest-bearing stablecoins offer several potential advantages. First, they offer stablecoin holders an opportunity to earn income without the risk of price fluctuations associated with other cryptocurrencies. This is very attractive for individuals who want to maintain financial stability while also earning some level of passive income. Additionally, interest-bearing stablecoins can contribute to the overall liquidity and stability of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. By attracting capital and providing competitive yields, they incentivize users to hold and use stablecoins, thereby increasing market efficiency and liquidity. However, regulatory scrutiny and compliance requirements pose challenges to interest-bearing stablecoin projects, and we see them being viewed as operating in a gray area between traditional finance and decentralized protocols. Regulators around the world have been debating whether this means the token is a security.
PANews: Considering that Binance is still the main holder of FDUSD, do you have any plans to incentivize the use of FDUSD through different scenarios in the future, such as on-chain activities or use in other exchanges?
First Digital: We are aware of the centralization risk on Binance, but we are also actively seeking to diversify this by listing on other major exchanges and deploying FDUSD on other native chains. This also helps bring more utility to FDUSD users. The only way FDUSD can grow user adoption is to adopt this strategy and ensure it is as integrated into the ecosystem as possible.
PANews: Considering that the circulating supply of FDUSD has now exceeded 2 billion (at the time of the interview), making it the fifth largest stablecoin, do you have any plans to launch stablecoins pegged to other currencies, such as Hong Kong dollar or euro stablecoins?
First Digital: We are actually the third largest stablecoin now, behind USDT and USDC, at least among stablecoins backed by 1:1 fiat currency (excluding Dai). We are using FDUSD as a case study, using its success as a template to eventually consider launching other currency-pegged stablecoins. The Hong Kong dollar and the euro are definitely two currencies that are widely used around the world (the Hong Kong dollar is pegged to the US dollar). While this won't happen in the short term, we do see it as part of our roadmap for the future.
