Cryptocurrency and blockchain are becoming boring — not just because the media has covered them so much (ahem!) but because large well-funded companies are using the technology to make the world more efficient.

That’s what they are supposed to do, after all. It was never supposed to be the Wild West, though the days of $18,000 bitcoin and $100 million ICOs may have made it seem that way.

Circle, the Goldman Sachs-funded payments company that made its name offering a smooth way to buy and sell bitcoin, today announced USD Coin, a digital currency pegged to the U.S. dollar, a so-called stablecoin. It functions just like a dollar, but may be able to reach some places dollars cannot, and there is no more risk its value will fluctuate than there is with cash. There are other stablecoins, but Circle’s move is significant because of Circle’s prominence in the space.

Hooray, another stable coin. pic.twitter.com/Alx7hoLDvg

— The Human Action Potential (@Anonymoususerz1) September 26, 2018

Stablecoins are not considered particularly exciting because unlike other tokens (or at least the idea of other tokens,) they do not have the ability to make anyone rich quick. Instead, they are leveraging superior technology to — yawn — make payments more efficient. They would be particularly useful as a store of value in countries suffering hyperinflation.

Circle’s blog post announcing USDC states:

Just as HTTPS, SMTP and SIP enabled free borderless information sharing and communications, crypto assets and blockchain technology will enable us to exchange value and transact with one another in a similar way: instantly, globally, securely and at low cost.

A fundamental building block of this vision is the tokenization of fiat currency itself, through what are now referred to as fiat stablecoins. A safe, transparent and trustworthy layer for fiat to operate over open blockchains and within smart contracts is a necessary precondition to the broader and more revolutionary potential of a crypto-powered global economy. USDC aims to meet this need.

The stablecoin, which can be used to purchase other cryptocurrency and does not need to be stored at a bank, can be traded on Circle’s Poloniex platform. It was created as part of the CENTRE consortium.

And speaking of consortia, JPMorgan’s Interbank Information Network (IIN) grew to more than 75 members this week. IIN is powered by Quorum, JPMC’s variant of the Ethereum blockchain.

This sure doesn’t feel much like the crazy crypto world of just a year ago. Bitcoin’s value held steady at $6520 at press time.