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The text below explains how we monitor changes in the circulating supply of stablecoins as part of the Stress Test system. Large shifts in supply — either through minting (expansion) or burning (contraction) — can serve as early indicators of stress events, liquidity shifts, or issuer-driven interventions. We use CoinGecko’s API to retrieve daily stablecoin supply data.

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Purpose

Monitoring circulating supply changes can highlight:
  • Growing demand (supply expansion)
  • Loss of trust or redemption pressure (supply contraction)
  • Anomalous minting or burning patterns that may precede depegs or liquidity crises. The supply-changes metric complements price-based and liquidity-based stress indicators.

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API Endpoint

Endpoint: 
GET https://api.coingecko.com/api/v3/coins/{id}
Authentication:
  • None required

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Example Query (cURL)

curl -X GET "https://api.coingecko.com/api/v3/coins/usd-coin"

curl -X GET "https://api.coingecko.com/api/v3/coins/dai"

curl -X GET "https://api.coingecko.com/api/v3/coins/usdt"

curl -X GET "https://api.coingecko.com/api/v3/coins/trueusd"

curl -X GET "https://api.coingecko.com/api/v3/coins/frax"

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Example Response (truncated)

{
  "id": "usd-coin",
  "symbol": "usdc",
  "market_data": {
    "circulating_supply": 28500000000,
    "total_supply": 30000000000
  }
}

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Important Fields

Field Purpose
  • **market_data.circulating_supply **Number of tokens currently circulating
  • **market_data.total_supply ** Total tokens issued (including reserved or non-circulating tokens)

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Supply Change Evaluation Criteria

We monitor the daily percentage change in circulating supply:
  • Stable (Low Risk): Daily change between -0.5% and +0.5%
  • Moderate Risk: Daily change between -1.0% and -0.5%, or between +0.5% and +1.0%
  • High Risk: Daily change exceeding ±1.0%
  • Sudden sharp contractions (burns) are weighted more heavily than expansions.

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Rate Limits and Notes

  • CoinGecko’s public API allows 5–15 calls per minute.
  • We update daily to align with other Stress Test metrics.
  • No authentication key is needed for standard usage.

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Last Word

  • Tracking changes in stablecoin supply provides another valuable layer of visibility into market trust dynamics.
  • While supply expansion is typically healthy, sudden contractions may reflect redemption surges or liquidity withdrawal events requiring close attention.
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