Stablecoins

The distinction matters most when it is tested. Fully reserved coins publish attestations and hold assets a custodian can be asked about. Crypto-collateralised coins over-collateralise and liquidate automatically. Synthetic coins hold a hedged position instead of reserves, which works until the hedge does not.

For anyone reading prediction markets, stablecoin supply is also a flow signal: it is the cash sitting on exchanges waiting to be deployed. Aggregate supply rising while prices are flat is a different market than supply falling into a rally.