Choosing a Stablecoin Public Chain: State Government Scoring Criteria Sparks Discussion

The state of Wyoming in the United States adopted a public scoring mechanism when selecting a public chain for its upcoming stablecoin WYST. The scoring results show that Aptos and Solana tied for first place with 32 points, followed closely by Sei with 30 points, while Ethereum and other Layer 2 solutions scored relatively lower, with only 26 points or less. This result differs from the general perception of the activity level of public chain ecosystems and market performance, sparking curiosity and discussion about the scoring criteria.

The Wyoming Stablecoin Committee was established in March 2023 under the state's Stable Token Act. The committee operates in a highly transparent manner, publicly releasing project-related information, meeting minutes, scoring criteria, and more, while also interacting with the public through multiple social media platforms.

During the selection process, the committee first screened candidates from 28 public chains that met the basic requirements. Then, scores were assigned based on 9 core indicators, with a maximum of 3 points for each item. These indicators include network stability, user activity, total locked value ( TVL ), stablecoin market capitalization, trading performance, fee levels, etc. Additionally, several bonus and penalty items were set up, involving aspects such as privacy protection, interoperability, smart contract functionality, application scenarios, and partners, while also considering potential legal and security risks.

In the end, 5 Layer 1 main chains and 4 Layer 2 chains were selected for the candidate list. Notably, Aptos and SEI were newly included in the evaluation in the first quarter of this year. The evaluation criteria have also been updated, adding considerations for vendor support, on-chain analysis capabilities, emerging market trends, and foundation support.

By comparing the performance of various public chains on core indicators, it can be observed that Ethereum is far ahead in total locked value ( TVL ), but relatively lagging in trading performance and costs. The reason Aptos can rank first alongside Solana is not only due to its balanced performance across various indicators but also thanks to the newly added scoring criteria.

The results of this selection have sparked some thoughts. For example, for Ethereum supporters, although the network has long been regarded as the best choice for tokenizing real assets, factors such as performance, cost, and scalability seem to be given more importance in government-level technology selection, while decentralization has not been listed as a separate scoring item.

In addition to the choice of public chains, the stablecoin project in Wyoming itself is also worth paying attention to. As the first state in the U.S. planning to issue a state-level stablecoin, WYST was originally scheduled to launch before July 4, 2024, but has now been postponed to the third quarter of 2025. The project still needs to complete a series of tasks such as formulating reserve management rules, establishing accounts, and selecting service providers.

It is worth mentioning that, in addition to Wyoming, places such as Nebraska and the Northern Mariana Islands are also advancing similar stablecoin initiatives. This trend is reminiscent of the free banking era in the United States in the 19th century, when various institutions were able to issue their own currency.

The discussion about the Renminbi stablecoin is becoming increasingly heated, with many large enterprises showing strong interest. In the future, both governments and enterprises will face many considerations when choosing a public blockchain to issue stablecoins. Although Wyoming's public scoring system may not be perfect, it provides a reference template for future participants. We have reason to expect to see more innovative governance methods in this field.