$1B Stablecoin FEI Hits Price Target for First Time, Month After Launch

It took a month and a day, but the FEI stablecoin has finally hit its target price of $1.

Since its debut on April 3, FEI has mostly traded below its goal of parity with the U.S. dollar. From April 7 to April 20, it stayed below $0.80, more than 20% off its peg, according to data on CoinGecko.

Things started to turn around on April 20, when the price began to rise toward the goal. Tuesday morning, FEI finally hit $1. It remains to be seen if FEI can hold this price.

FEI’s chief innovation is a concept called “protocol controlled value” (PCV), which is supposed to hold the price steady in a decentralized way that's more capital-efficient than other stablecoins. Its chief competitor in this regard is the stablecoin issued by MakerDAO, DAI.

The FEI project was funded by a group of elite investors, such as Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Coinbase Ventures and Framework Ventures.

Prior to its launch, FEI recruited liquidity into its system with a launch event that promised discounted FEI and opportunities to earn its governance token, TRIBE, in exchange for ETH, the second-largest cryptocurrency. The launch attracted over $1 billion worth of ETH.

Although FEI has finally reached its goal of a $1 price, its supply on the market has decreased significantly. According to CoinGecko, its market cap was $1.9 billion on April 29. That fell precipitously to $976 million by April 30.

There is currently $1 billion in FEI on the market.

Since the launch, the TRIBE governance token has traded between $2.45 and $1.04. As of this writing, it is at $1.59.

The FEI team could not be immediately reached for comment. This is a developing story. CoinDesk will update it as further details emerge.