The Winklevoss twins have been hard at work trying to take over the cryptocurrency space. Now, after a lengthy wait, the Gemini Dollar – the brother’s stablecoin – has finally been listed to a third-party crypto exchange, with Liquid being its new home. The Gemini Dollar (GUSD) is one of the first of a new breed of stablecoins, whereby it’s fully regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). This is a rare qualification for stablecoins, and there are only a handful of others with the same accolade. This combined with the fact that Tether – the most popular USD stablecoin – looks set to fall apart forms the perfect storm of reasons as to why GUSD has been added to Liquid.
Minor GUSD Headaches
While the GUSD is touted as the next generation of stablecoin, it doesn’t come without its own series of headaches. Due to the fact that it’s regulated by the NYFDS, every new trading pair that Gemini wants to create with the GUSD means that it needs prior approval. This means that for Gemini to add more trading pairs for the GUSD it could take quite some time – something investors might not have during an impending market correction.
The Tether Problem
Other stablecoins are coming to light recently following allegations that Tether is starting to fade away. In October, Tether performed rather poorly against the USD, falling at one point to a value of $0.91. This sparked a wave of mistrust in the stablecoin, and it followed this poor performance up by burning more than half of its total market supply – another very bad sign for investors.
Not So Private
The GUSD allows investors and traders to head over to the Ethereum network and buy GUSD from virtually any ERC20 token directly, however acquiring the coin isn’t exactly simple. Anyone who wishes to get their hands on GUSD via this method will be subjected to enhanced know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) procedures. This is once again due to the regulation that the GUSD has secured. Due to these measures, any transactions that pass through GUSD are known by banks and the US government – so make sure your purchases are legal.
Liquid is an up-and-coming crypto exchange, and by listing GUSD it has cemented its future as a popular platform. Crypto traders are always on the lookout for a new exchange that allows them to hedge their holding risks using stablecoins, in that sense the GUSD could soon be in a league of its own.
