Meter StablePrice

(MTR)

MTR is the native "metastable" gas currency and unit of account for the Meter.io network. It is a decentralized, permissionless, low-volatility cryptocurrency known as a "flatcoin." Unlike typical stablecoins backed by fiat or collateralized by other digital assets, MTR is anchored to a physical resource: electricity. It is produced using SHA256 Proof of Work, the same consensus mechanism used by Bitcoin, ensuring a decentralized issuance process.

The Meter team anchors MTR to electricity because fiat currencies are susceptible to inflation and central bank policy shifts. Historically, the global price of 10 kWh of electricity has maintained more stable purchasing power over several decades compared to traditional fiat. By using an electricity anchor, MTR aims to function as a truly decentralized unit of account that remains independent of centralized financial institutions and their monetary policies.

MTR maintains its stability through an economic incentive model. When the market price of MTR rises above the cost of 10 kWh of electricity, miners are incentivized to produce more MTR and sell it, which increases supply and lowers the price. Conversely, if MTR falls below the cost of 10 kWh, miners reduce production or point their hardware elsewhere, and an internal on-chain auction system removes MTR from circulation to decrease supply.

MTR and MTRG serve distinct roles. MTR (Meter Stable) is the gas token used for transaction fees and daily payments; it is a mined token with an elastic supply. MTRG (Meter Governance) is the governance and staking token used to secure the network via Proof of Stake. Holders of MTRG can vote on protocol proposals and earn rewards by staking their tokens to validators, whereas MTR is intended for use as a stable medium of exchange.

Participants can mine MTR using SHA256 ASIC hardware by contributing hash power to a Meter mining pool. The protocol adjusts mining difficulty to align with the energy cost of 10 kWh. While MTR itself cannot be staked, it can be converted to MTRG for staking purposes. Stakers can enable "Auto-bid" to automatically use their rewards to bid for more MTRG in daily auctions, facilitating an auto-compounding process for their holdings.

The Meter Passport bridge connects the Meter network to various other chains, such as Ethereum and BNB Chain, allowing users to move assets like eMTRG to the native network. Because Meter is EVM-compatible, users can interact with the ecosystem using standard digital wallets or the dedicated Meter Desktop Wallet. For those new to the network, a faucet and gasless swap features are available to help acquire initial MTR for transaction fees.