"Fiat-backed stablecoins are therefore rarely actual cryptocurrencies, which causes them to inherit their main characteristics and shortcomings from the centralised banking system. Ultimately, they function in the same manner as fiat, backed by what amounts to an IOU."
I disagree, they don't function similar to fiat at all!
while fiat is being printed by the government and banks and they run the show, that gives fiat a very good level of security. for example if you are using USD you know that tomorrow morning USD is not going to be wiped off the face of the earth.
in comparison centralized stablecoins are controlled by a company that may not even be legal not to mention that when they "print money" it is not allowed in most countries around the world. so you can and probably will wake up one morning to see them disappear. that means they are not secure at all.
Danial Daychopan wrote a short article linked below that has got me thinking. Are stablecoins bad for the cryptocurrency ecosystem because they are essentially fiat in digital form, or are they beneficial as they provide stability in an extremely volatile market? Curious to hear your thoughts, give it a read and let me know your angle on it.
no they are bad because they are centralized. if they were decentralized then it was an entirely different story.
as for their benefits, if you are only using them for trading for example to transfer funds from one exchange to another with a lower fee compared to transferring fiat, or if you are using them in an exchange that does not have fiat market but you want to
temporarily exit that coin and go to a fiat like coin that keeps its value then they are good but other than that usage of them is a very bad idea.