Behind the rollercoaster-like price fluctuations of cryptocurrencies, there exists another class of coins that promises to offer price stability. Stablecoins attempt to bring in the best of both fiat, as well crypto, and over the past few years, they have gained massive traction, primarily because it is a major source of liquidity in the cryptocurrency market.
Unlike cryptocurrencies, the value of a stablecoin is pegged to a stable real-world asset that can range from commodities to fiat, held in reserve by the stablecoin issuer, bringing in centralization factor to the game. Meaning, there has to be a central authority holding and monitoring the backing of such crypto-assets.
This goes against the very ethos of cryptocurrencies. Along the same lines, Wiess Crypto Ratings’ latest tweet read,
“There’s a big problem with the 1st generation of #stablecoins: Users have to trust a central authority to hold sufficient dollar balances to back the coins they issued.”
Tether is unarguably the biggest stablecoin in the realm. Tether, with a market cap of $4.46 billion, holds a dominance of 11.7% over the entire cryptocurrency market. But in less than four years of its inception, USDT has garnered significant bad press. with numerous scandals and issues under its name.
Speculations alleging Tether manipulated Bitcoin’s price were the most damaging for the space. To top that, last years’ Bitfinex-Tether fiasco has only added to the woes.
Even policymakers are not a big fan of stablecoins, with numerous papers published on how this sector can threaten the monetary systems. Grant Baker, Chief Innovation Officer at STAE and author of the 2019 Blockchain Compliance Paper, was quoted as saying,
“While stablecoins provide shelter for cryptocurrency investors during times of turbulence, they haven’t seen much usage elsewhere. We anticipate this will change when Singapore begins issuing licenses and regulating stablecoin issuers this year. Decentralized stablecoins will likely be a very practical application of blockchain and that’s what we’re focusing on.”
However, even as the crypto-space continues to evolve, dethroning the largest stablecoin by market cap is be a tough job. Nevertheless, there is a growing breed of stablecoins that has made its presence known over the last couple of months.
The rise of crypto-collateralized stablecoins
The most appealing factor is the decentralized notion of this breed. While most popular stablecoins like USDT, USDC, PAX, Gemini Dollar are all fiat collateralized stablecoins, ie., backed by legal tender, crypto-collateralized stablecoins are trustless in nature. They are linked to the reserves of other cryptocurrencies.
Without a central authority, the most prominent decentralized stablecoin is DAI. This stablecoin uses smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain to manage the collateral and maintain order. Another token that has gained traction is Synthetix [$sUSD] and it allows the creation of on-chain synthetic assets on the Ethereum blockchain.
Its advantages include transparency, accountability, and efficiency [in using due to the quick process of liquidation into other cryptos],
But, everything has its own pros and cons. A recent blog by DeFi Rate explained the drawback of this emerging class of stablecoins,
“Where fiat-backed stablecoins only need to hold 1:1 reserves in legal tender, this subset of stablecoins often require over-collateralization to account for price volatility. Most commonly, this ratio is set at 150%, meaning that in order to issue $100 worth of $DAI, you will need to post AT LEAST $150 worth of $ETH as collateral.”
There is also a high volatility factor. Additionally, there also may be chances of instant liquidation, meaning, the underlying crypto can be instantaneously liquidated if its price falls below a certain threshold, which is a risky affair for investors.
That being said, the growing trend depicts a more mature crypto-space, despite mounting regulatory threats from agencies across the world.
So far, the past month had seen some of the worst days in Bitcoin’s price history. Following the emerging coronavirus crisis, Bitcoin plunged from a high of over $10K in mid-February, to a current low of $3,600 reached March 12. Since then, the price had recovered to the $6,000 area, but March is not yet over.
The drop affected almost all of the cryptocurrencies and stablecoins were the only ones that saw their market cap increased.
Stablecoins’ Growth Amid The Sell-Offs As the name suggests, stablecoins find a valuable place among all cryptocurrencies because of their “stability”. In a market with generally high levels of volatility, traders can quickly exit their positions from a violently swinging coin and store their funds in a more stable digital asset, pegged to the USD in most cases.
A perfect example of their usage came last week when the market crashed over 50% in one single day. A recent report indicated that during the most significant stages of the sell-off, short term traders turned to stablecoins.
Therefore, even though the total market cap saw its value slashed in half from over $300m a month ago, most stablecoin are on the rise in that manner.
According to data from CoinGecko, USDC, the stable coin backed by Circle, had seen an increase of 55% in its market cap. Until February 27, all USDC was equivalent to $430 million. As of writing these lines, the market cap grew to almost $670 million. Paxos Standard (PAX) saw a minor increase of 9% to a current market cap of $230 million.
The biggest gainer has been BUSD (Binance USD), with an increase of over 100%. It seems rather logical since the coin is available on the leading cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume – Binance.
You may also like: UK Central Bank Eases Stablecoin Rules Following Market Response Coinbase Urges Congress to Treat Stablecoins Like Cash and Ease Crypto Tax Burdens Peter Schiff Blasts Jamie Dimon’s Push for Bank-Style Rules on Stablecoins Despite the above, True USD, Paxos and Gemini Dollar didn’t notice a significant change in their market cap, and MakerDAO saw a decrease of 30% in its market cap due to the recent instability of the promising project.
Still Far From Tether (USDT) Despite the new additions in the stablecoin market, Tether (USDT) is still well in the lead in this race. It’s the most widely used, and naturally, it has the largest market capitalization of over $4.5 billion. After the latest price crash, Tether is now the 4th biggest cryptocurrency by market cap.
As the majority generally prefer using it, USDT ERC-20 transactions noted an all-time high last year. Ultimately, they utilized almost 25% of the whole Ethereum network.
More recently, USDT ERC-20 balance on cryptocurrency exchanges has more than doubled in the past month, and it’s close to $1 billion.
USDT ERC 20 Balance On Exchanges. Source: glassnode.com However, the emergence of new stablecoins may soon threaten Tether’s dominance over the market. According to a recent report, USDC, PAX, TUSD, and DAI had surpassed USDT in terms of transfer counts at the start of the year.
Gemini Dollar lending rates on decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocol Aave soared as high as 73% on Wednesday after Gemini announced that withdrawals from its Earn product may be delayed due to Genesis' lending arm halting withdrawals outright. Genesis services the exchange's Earn product.
There are two likely reasons that these rates would spike above 50%.
The first is that speculators are attempting to short the asset. Second, liquidity may be fleeing the pool and being converted to an alternative asset.
Rates on platforms like this are a function of supply and demand; as supply shrinks or demand spikes, the rate to lend out the asset in question will rise to attract holders to deposit their funds.
At its peak today, the rate for lending hit a whopping 73% as both of these conditions appeared.
By press time, however, the supply of GUSD on Aave had soared from 10 million to 15 million, and the rate had already dropped back down to 2.0%.
Source: Aave.Mark Zeller, integration lead at Aave, reminded users on Twitter that GUSD cannot be used as collateral on the lending platform, "so no risk of bad debt."
But since GUSD can be lent out on Aave, liquidity providers who acted quickly enough could "enjoy near 3-digit yield."
Before u ask anon.
GUSD cannot be used as collateral on Aave. So no risk of bad debt.
I personally think there's zero issue with it with my current knowledge.
So if u wanna enjoy near 3 digit yield before it get arb, have fun! pic.twitter.com/Z5ay54PYeg
— Marc Zeller 👻 💜 🦇🔊 (@lemiscate) November 16, 2022
Gemini joins DeFiGemini was founded by billionaire brothers Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss in 2014. The Gemini Dollar, the exchange's dollar-pegged stablecoin, was launched in September 2018. Gemini published a blog post on Wednesday morning explaining their pause on Gemini Earn news was a knock-on effect from Genesis Capital.
Genesis suspended client withdrawals from its lending arm early Wednesday morning, citing "FTX impact." FTX Group, which includes Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto exchanges FTX.com, FTX US and trading desk Alameda Research, filed for bankruptcy on Friday.
For stablecoins, supply tends to track closely with their market capitalization since the tokens are created when investors buy them and destroyed when they're redeemed. GUSD's market cap blew past its recent all-time high market cap of $410 million last month when it signed an agreement with MakerDAO to offer the protocol 1.25% rewards on staked GUSD.
As of Wednesday morning, MakerDAO had $435 million worth of GUSD on its platform—a more than 10x increase from October. MakerDAO's GUSD supply accounts for roughly two-thirds of the stablecoin's $678 million market cap, which experienced a sharp drop on Wednesday morning's news.
Sébastien Derivaux, MakerDAO's asset-liability lead, told Decrypt that those funds "have no link with Gemini Earn."
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The Winklevoss Twins-backed exchange Gemini has announced a “Trust Center” to display a breakdown of funds held on the platform. The page, hosted on the Gemini website, reveals that it holds over $4.6 billion in crypto assets with $601 million in the treasury to back its stablecoin GUSD.
However, data from several sources, including CryptoSlate's coin page, shows the market cap of GUSD to be $613.98 million, leaving a difference of $12.98 million.
Exchange assets comprise $2,257,474,294 BTC, $1,714,709,859 ETH, and $681,003,276 in other crypto assets. Further, it has $542,892,356 in FIAT, all held in FDIC-insured banks. A statement identified the funds were valid as of midnight ET on Nov. 29.
“Fiat assets held for the benefit of our customers as of 12am ET. U.S. dollars are held at FDIC-insured banks.”
The exchange also listed some 45+ relevant licenses across the U.S., United Kingdom, and Ireland. The licenses included a New York Trust license for virtual currency granted in 2015, alongside money transmission licenses in most U.S. states. Gemini also holds virtual asset and e-money licenses in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The license in the notoriously tricky state of New York comes with strict criteria. Crypto licenses in New York are not easy to come by and “impose certain excess capital requirements for all assets held on Gemini.”
“At any given time, Gemini is required to hold capital in excess of customer deposits and must report any material changes in this capital to the NYDFS.”
Unlike the Binance proof of reserves release, Gemini's ‘Trust Center' does not include any ability for customers to verify assets or link to on-chain wallets. The page is in static form and will be “updated daily.”
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While the information on specific assets, reserves, licenses, and certifications showcases Gemini's comparable level of regulation to traditional financial counterparties, the lack of full transparency may not sway some crypto purists.
The chart below highlights Gemini's corporate structure as outlined in its Trust Center. The Gemini Space Station is the parent company of the Gemini Trust, Gemini U.K., and Gemini Ireland. Each entity has its own board, licenses, and registrations. However, only the trust has committees focusing on audits, compliance, and executive and managers examination.
Gemini UniverseGemini closed off the Trust Center page with a quote central to its mission.
“Ask for permission, not for forgiveness. From day one, Gemini has prioritized the security of your assets. We never have and never will compromise on that.”
Glassnode data analyzed by CryptoSlate shows that the U.S.-based crypto exchange Gemini and its stablecoin Gemini Dollar (GUSD) are starting to lose followers and the community's trust as metrics fall to all-time lows.
GUSD holders and exchange volumesThe number of active addresses that hold GUSD has slumped back to its 2020 levels. The chart below represents the active wallet number since the beginning of the year 2019.
GUSD active addressesThe number of wallets started to increase at the end of 2020 and reached almost 1200 towards the end of 2021. Since then, active addresses that hold GUSD fell by 91.6% and retreated back to 100 in January 2023.
BUSD balance on exchanges also recorded a significant decrease. The chart below demonstrates the BUSD balance held on exchanges since the beginning of 2019.
BUSD balance on exchangesThe BUSD volume on exchanges started to grow exponentially in July 2021 and breached 300 million in May 2022, just before the FTX collapse.
However, the BUSD volume started to record ups and downs after the FTX disaster and finally recorded a 96% decrease in January 2023, falling from around 260 million to just above 10 million.
What happened?The name Gemini has been on the headlines since the Terra-Luna collapse. As soon as the winter market started, Gemini laid off 10% of its staff in June 2022, which marked the exchange's first layoff decision. In July 2022, Gemini went for the second round of layoffs and let 15% of its staff go. In both decisions, the exchange pointed at the market turmoil and repeated that it had to manage costs. At the time, however, most crypto companies were laying off staff, so Gemini didn't really stick out.
Gemini EarnThe real chain of events that hurt the community's trust in Gemini started on Nov. 16, 2022, when Gemini's Earn program halted withdrawals due to market turmoil. Addressing the users, the exchange said it would try to meet customers' withdrawal requests as soon as possible.
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Gemini Earn is a program that allows individual investors to lend their crypto assets to institutional borrowers in exchange for a certain amount of interest. To facilitate these services, Gemini partnered with third-party crypto lenders, including Genesis, which suspended withdrawals for its own customers on Nov. 16, the same day as Gemini Earn. Genesis said it is experiencing abnormal amounts of withdrawal requests which exceed the company's liquidity. It also added that its parent company, Digital Currency Group (DCG), is also doing everything in its power to smooth out the situation.
The discussions between DCG, Genesis, and Gemini, including DCG's CEO Barry Silbert and Gemini CEOs Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, have been continuing since then, and the tension has been climbing daily. On Dec. 5, Gemini formed an ad-hoc committee to come up with a solution to the liquidity crisis.
On Jan. 2, Cameron Winklevoss wrote an open letter addressed to Silbert and claimed that Gemini Earn's liquidity crisis is caused by Genesis, and Genesis is having problems because Sibert owes his subsidiary $1.675 billion. Cameron Winklevoss gave Silbert time until Jan. 8 to make up for his debt and therefore resolve Gemini's liquidity crisis. Silbert responded to the open letter soon after it was published, saying that neither he nor DCG has any debt to Genesis.
Gemini Earn users filed a class arbitration suit against Genesis and DCG on Jan. 3, claiming that Genesis breached its agreement with Gemini Earn users. On Jan. 4, Genesis CEO released a statement saying that the firm is focused on solving the problem, but it needs more time.
The problem remained unsolved, and Gemini announced that it is officially discontinuing its Earn program on Jan. 11, 2023. The exchange added that returning its users' funds is currently the highest priority while also reminding that Genesis was responsible for repaying all assets to users.
Updated Jan 18, 2023, 9:51 p.m. Published Jan 18, 2023, 9:08 p.m.
3 min read
Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss (L-R) (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)Decentralized finance giant MakerDAO's community was heavily favoring keeping Gemini’s GUSD stablecoin as part of Maker’s reserve. The ongoing vote is testing confidence in Gemini, the Winklevoss-founded exchange that has been swept up in recent crypto contagion.
Voters are casting votes whether to keep the GUSD ceiling at the current $500 million, to decrease it to $100 million or to zero, which would boot GUSD from the reserve, according to Maker’s governance site.
At press time, 69% of the votes favored keeping the GUSD ceiling intact at $500 million, while 31% voted for dropping GUSD to zero. The final result may change; the voting ends Thursday (Jan. 19) at 16:15 UTC.
The Maker protocol is led by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), in which holders of the protocol’s governance token, maker (MKR), can vote on proposals. Currently, MakerDAO holds $489 million in GUSD in its Peg Stability Module (PSM) facility, which acts as a reserve system with $7 billion of assets to back its DAI stableoin’s value and price peg to the dollar.
Starting in October, Gemini has been paying a 1.25% annual yield to Maker on GUSD holdings based on an earlier agreement.
The voting comes as Gemini, the issuer of GUSD, is under pressure after halting withdrawals from its yield-paying product, called Gemini Earn, and because of a lawsuit by the top U.S. securities regulator. Gemini is the brainchild of mega-crypto investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, who still helm the company.
Crypto investors worry that Gemini’s woes may destabilize its GUSD stablecoin, roiling Maker’s $5 billion DAI.
“Recent MakerDAO governance discussions have raised concerns about GUSD’s heavy reliance on the PSM and Gemini holding GUSD reserves at Silvergate,” Riyad Carey, analyst of digital asset research firm Kaiko, wrote in a report earlier this month.
Currently, MakerDAO holds some 85% of all GUSD in circulation, making Gemini’s stablecoin overwhelmingly reliant on its relationship with MakerDAO.
Additionally, concerns loom about GUSD’s value being partly backed by cash held at Silvergate Capital (SI), the embattled crypto-friendly bank that has suffered in the fallout from last year’s various crypto debacles, most notably FTX’s demise. The bank’s shares lost 88% of their value in the past year on the New York Stock Exchange.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit last week alleging that Gemini Trust and major crypto lender Genesis Global Capital sold unregistered securities to customers through the Gemini Earn program. (CoinDesk and Genesis are owned by the same parent company, DCG.)
Users’ assets in the Earn program are locked up at the moment, after Genesis’ lending arm, which powered Gemini Earn, suspended customer withdrawals in November as FTX collapsed. The withdrawal freeze has led to scuffling between the two firms. According to recent reports, Genesis is laying groundwork with its creditors for a bankruptcy filing.
GUSD was an integral part of Gemini’s Earn program, offering as high as 8% annual yield for investors depositing GUSD, according to Kaiko.
“Holding GUSD is akin to holding GUSD’s underlying assets with additional risk related to Gemini,” Carey said. “It seems possible that the community may opt to move on from GUSD in favor of new pilot projects,” he wrote at the time.
The “worst-case scenario” for GUSD would be Gemini’s troubles forcing a delay in GUSD redemptions and causing a temporary deviation from its dollar peg, according to Carey. However, “even a significant depegging would be unlikely to rattle DAI,” he added.
Decentralized finance (DeFi) lending platform and stablecoin issuer MakerDAO could soon ditch $390 million of crypto exchange Gemini’s GUSD stablecoin from its reserves.
The protocol’s community is currently voting on a proposal to decrease the maximum amount of GUSD to $110 million from $500 million held in Maker’s DAI stablecoin reserve, called the Peg Stability Module (PSM).
Less than 24 hours before the vote’s end, roughly 94% of those who have already voted are in favor of the proposal to cut GUSD. However, a similar proposal in January saw a late rush of votes in favor of retaining GUSD, pushing that side to a razor-thin 50.85% majority.
The vote is significant for GUSD’s future, as Maker holds roughly 88% of the stablecoin’s $568 million circulating supply. Maker backs the value of the $4.5 billion DAI by holding cryptocurrencies such as Circle’s USDC and GUSD in the reserve, and increasingly by investing in real-world assets like government bonds.
Gemini – the crypto exchange founded and run by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss and the issuer of GUSD – pays a 2% annual reward to MakerDAO for using the token as a reserve asset. The proposal, however, argued that the platform could enjoy better revenue opportunities, for example by investing in short-term U.S. Treasuries, which currently offer about a 5% yield.
Read more: MakerDAO Paves Way for Additional $1.28B U.S. Treasury Purchase
“Reducing GUSD exposure could allow for better capital efficiency by deploying funds into higher revenue generating opportunities,” the proposal said.
MakerDAO could soon remove $390M of Gemini’s GUSD stablecoin from its reserves. The DAO is currently voting to decrease the maximum amount of GUSD held in Maker’s DAI stablecoin reserve to $110M. MakerDAO’s reserve currently holds roughly 88% of total GUSD supply. MakerDAO, a decentralized lending platform and DAI stablecoin issuer may soon sell $390 million of the Gemini Dollar (GUSD) stablecoin issued by the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange.
The Peg Stability Module (PSM) being voted on by the MakerDAO’s community, would reduce the maximum amount of GUSD from $500 million held in Maker’s DAI stablecoin reserve to just $110 million.
At press time about 94% of those who had cast their ballots, with less than 24 hours until the vote’s conclusion, support the proposal to lower GUSD.
Gemini Dollar (GUSD) future Given that Maker controls about 88% of the stablecoin’s $568 million circulating supply, the vote will significantly impact the future of GUSD, whose metrics have been relatively stable. Maker supports the $4.5 billion DAI’s value by holding cryptocurrencies like Circle’s USDC and GUSD in its reserve and making investments in physical assets like bonds.
MakerDAO receives a 2% annual reward from Gemini for using the token as a reserve asset. Gemini is the issuer of GUSD. However, the proposal argued that by investing in short-term US Treasuries, which currently offer a yield of around 5%, the platform could benefit from better revenue opportunities.
The proposal states:
“Reducing GUSD exposure could allow for better capital efficiency by deploying funds into higher revenue-generating opportunities.”
The vote to reduce GUSD from DAI’s reserve comes just days after the DAO voted to drop MakerDAO drop Pax Dollar (USDP) stablecoin from its reserves.
SponsoredUpdated Jun 15, 2023, 8:24 p.m. Published Jun 15, 2023, 8:17 p.m.
2 min read
MakerDAO founder Rune Christensen (Original image by Trevor Jones)Decentralized finance (DeFi) platform and stablecoin issuer MakerDAO has approved a hike in the reward to investors for holding its $4.5 billion DAI stablecoin and to reshuffle DAI’s reserve assets.
In an executive vote concluded Thursday, the MakerDAO community ratified a proposal to increase the DAI Savings Rate (DSR) to 3.49% from 1%, providing additional incentive for investors to hold and lend DAI instead of rivals like popular stablecoins such as USDC and USDT.
The decision happened as Maker – led by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) where MKR token owners can vote on proposals – is undergoing a major transformation, including rearranging the backing assets of the DAI stablecoin. The platform increasingly invests in real-world assets such as short-term U.S. government bonds to boost revenues, redistributing a part of it to users through the DSR.
Read more: Lending Platform MakerDAO Approves ‘Constitution,’ Moves Forward With ‘Endgame’ Plan
Hiking the reward is significant because it resets the baseline interest rate across the DeFi ecosystem, spurring higher yields from lending stablecoins while making leverage more expensive, according to Karpatkey, a treasury management provider to decentralized organizations.
It also underscores Maker’s strategic shift, Karpatkey said, because the proposal includes hiking fees on crypto assets to take out a DAI loan. “Originally a platform for leveraged long traders, Maker now positions itself as a bridge to real-world assets (RWA) yield,” said Karpatkey.
The decision will take effect on June 19.
Paxos Dollar out, Gemini Dollar cutThe executive vote also included a slew of other proposals that influence the composition of DAI’s backing reserve assets.
The community effectively ditched Paxos Dollar (USDP) from the reserve by approving a decrease in its debt ceiling to zero. The move has a substantial impact on fintech firm Paxos’ stablecoin, as Maker currently holds roughly half of USDP’s $1 billion supply.
The vote also ratified onboarding the BlockTower Andromeda RWA vault that would allow the additional purchase of up to $1.28 billion in U.S. Treasuries for the reserve, doubling down on giving traditional financial assets a bigger role in DAI’s reserve.
In a separate poll concluded Thursday, MakerDAO voters also favored curbing Gemini Dollar (GUSD) in the reserve to $110 million from $500 million. As CoinDesk reported, the result could jeopardize GUSD’s future as Maker holds 88% of the token’s supply.
Gate Launchpool supports GUSD staking and launches the 305th BLOCK (BLOCKST) event, sharing 204,485 BLOCKST
PANews reported on September 2nd that Gate Launchpool will officially launch its 305th Launchpool event from 11:00 AM on September 2nd to 11:00 AM on September 5th (UTC+8). Users can stake Gemini Dollar (GUSD) or Blockst to share 204,485 Blockst.
In addition, the GUSD staking pool has been opened in this period. Users can participate in staking by minting GUSD and locking the position in advance to ensure that users can obtain rewards as soon as possible.
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PANews reported on September 2nd that official data indicates that Gate Launchpool launched 10 projects in August, distributing millions of dollars in airdrop rewards with an annualized yield of 1,363.1%. The total value of staked tokens reached approximately $1.148 billion. Furthermore, Launchpool has opened Gemini Dollar (GUSD) staking, allowing users to mint GUSD at a 1:1 ratio with USDT or USDC, with a current reference annualized yield of 84.04%. During the same period, Gate's HODLer Airdrop launched eight projects. These two flagship products attracted over 100,000 participants, allowing users to easily capitalize on early-stage opportunities.
Gate Launchpool, an innovative staking airdrop platform, supports staking a variety of tokens, including GT, BTC, ETH, USDT, and GUSD. It distributes new coin airdrops every hour, offering a low barrier to entry and high annualized returns, helping users easily capture market opportunities. Furthermore, after staking and redeeming, users can transfer their assets to the Yubibao [7-Day] fixed-term product to receive an additional airdrop reward of up to 116.6% on top of their original staking returns. Gate HODLer Airdrop is dedicated to discovering high-quality, high-potential projects and, through this airdrop mechanism, reduces investment risk to zero. Users only need to hold 1 GT to easily participate in the free airdrop.
PANews reported on September 15th that the on-chain supply of Gate Gemini Dollar (GUSD) has exceeded 100 million. Users holding GUSD in products such as spot trading, wealth management accounts, and Launchpool will enjoy a 4.4% annualized return on minting. Users can also receive income from this product simultaneously, achieving a double-edged interest return.
Currently, the three major GUSD mining pools of Gate Launchpool are operating simultaneously: the annualized yield of the AVNT mining pool is currently reported at 16.32%, the annualized yield of the U mining pool is currently reported at 16.85%, and the annualized yield of the BOT mining pool is currently reported at 16.07%.
Gemini Dollar (GUSD) is a high-quality, yield-generating asset backed by Gate ecosystem revenue, Treasury bonds (RWAs), and stablecoins. The product supports trading and staking, and users can earn an annualized daily return, aiming to provide users with relatively stable returns.
PANews reported on September 23rd that Gate Launchpad will soon launch a new project, Plasma (XPL), which will be available for subscription with GUSD. The minimum purchase is 10 GUSD, and the subscription price is 1 XPL = 0.35 GUSD. The total subscription quota for this Launchpad is 3,000,000 XPL. The subscription period is from 21:30 on September 23, 2025, to 18:00 on September 25, 2025 (UTC+8). Subscriptions will be allocated based on the investment ratio and trading level from 00:00 on August 24 to 16:00 on September 25 (UTC+8). High-volume users will receive higher subscription quotas, balancing broad participation and user loyalty. XPL tokens will be distributed uniformly within two hours of the subscription closing, and spot trading will officially begin at 21:00 on September 25 (UTC+8).
Gemini Dollar (GUSD) is a high-quality, yield-generating asset backed by Gate ecosystem revenue, Treasury RWAs, and stablecoins. The product supports trading and staking, and users receive a daily annualized yield, aiming to provide users with a relatively stable return. Currently, the on-chain supply of Gate Gemini Dollar (GUSD) has reached 171 million. Users holding GUSD in spot trading, wealth management accounts, and Launchpool products can simultaneously enjoy a 4.4% annualized minting yield, achieving dual interest returns.
PANews reported on September 25th that official data indicates that the total subscription amount for the first Plasma (XPL) listing on Gate Launchpad has exceeded $100 million. This subscription event marks the first time that Gemini Dollar (GUSD) has been used as the sole subscription asset. The subscription ends at 18:00 (UTC+8) on September 25th, with only five hours remaining. The current pre-market price of XPL is 0.78 USTD, and the subscription price is 1 XPL = 0.35 GUSD.
Gemini Dollar (GUSD) is a high-quality, yield-generating asset backed by Gate ecosystem revenue, Treasury bonds (RWAs), and stablecoins. Users simply hold GUSD and automatically receive a 4.4% annualized return on their GUSD daily. Users who invest GUSD in other financial products also receive returns from those products, achieving a dual interest return.
PANews reported on October 13th that official data showed that Gate Launchpool launched 21 projects in September, achieving an annualized yield of 1,037.37% and a total staked value of approximately $2.936 billion. Furthermore, Launchpool now allows users to stake Gemini Dollar (GUSD), allowing them to convert USDT or USDC into GUSD at a 1:1 ratio. During the same period, Gate's HODLer Airdrop launched 19 projects. These two flagship products attracted over 600,000 participants, distributing nearly $1 million in airdrops.
Gate Launchpool, an innovative staking and airdrop platform, supports staking a variety of tokens, including GT, BTC, ETH, USDT, and GUSD. It distributes new coin airdrops every hour, offering low barriers to entry and high annualized returns, helping users seize market opportunities. Furthermore, after staking and redeeming, users can transfer their assets to Yubibao's 7-day fixed-term product to receive additional airdrop rewards of up to 116.6% on top of their original staking returns.
Gate HODLer Airdrop is dedicated to discovering high-quality potential projects and reducing investment risk to zero through the airdrop mechanism. Users only need to hold 1 GT to easily participate in the free airdrop.
Two useful trading techniques that have become popular in the cryptocurrency space recently are staking and lending.
Today, my goal is to discuss the difference between staking and lending and how you can use these techniques to adapt your trading strategy depending on your risk/reward profile.
Essentially, while staking helps to secure the network and in turn pays users with newly minted coins, lending allows users to lock up their coins and receive an interest payment.
I cannot say one strategy is better than the other, as it depends on what type of investor you are.
If you like to directly participate in a protocol, perhaps staking is more your thing, while if you’re simply looking to get an interest payment, lending could be the right choice for you.
Similarly, if you consider giving up control of your coins too risky no matter what, then you may think neither strategy is worthwhile. It’s completely up to you, and you should always do your own research and make sure you’re comfortable with your level of risk/reward when trading.
As always, the views in this article should not be considered financial advisement.
Staking coins What are some of the best coins for cryptocurrency staking? Learn about staking #NavCoin, #Pivx, #Komodo, #Decred, and more at https://t.co/LMASrGgayY #Staking #Crypto #ProofOfStake pic.twitter.com/z7sSKCd15u
— Switchain (@switchaindotcom) October 21, 2019
Although there’s a bunch of Proof-of-Stake (PoS) protocols available – like Ardor, Dash, or EOS – I will instead focus on which exchanges, preferably non-custodial, allow users to stake coins directly.
The first I’ll discuss is IDEX.
IDEX, as the name indicates, is a decentralised exchange where users own their private-public key pairs. To trade, users sign transactions using interfaces such as MetaMask.
IDEX also incorporates the AURA token – the exchange’s native currency – which encourages users to stake the coin and help support the network. The AURA token enables stakers to earn a share of fees generated by IDEX and other Aurora products.
By staking AURA, node operators will be rewarded proportionately to their percentage stake, and 50% of fees have been allocated to be paid to AURA stakers. Traders will also be able to utilise the Boreal coin as a payment option for trading fees or as a stable base currency.
The second exchange worth mentioning is Switchain.
Switchain is an instant non-custodial cryptocurrency exchange with a user-friendly platform that makes trading crypto easy and fast.
Switchain works with different cryptocurrency trading partners to guarantee the best cryptocurrency rates for its clients.
An important partner I would like to mention is Exodus, one of the most widely used crypto wallets. By integrating Switchain’s fixed rate API, users of Exodus wallets have been able to exchange crypto assets with a single click.
Switchain works in a non-custodial manner, and the wallet creates an exchange on behalf of the user. The user sends the coins and receives the exchanged asset instantly.
Lending coins If you hold different crypto-assets, then you can make them work for you in a high-interest account. Companies like BlockFi and Celsius Network provide a simple way to earn up to 10% interest on your crypto-assets per annum.
You have to read the fine print and do your own research as there are many different companies around offering to pay interest on different cryptocurrencies. Be sure you know the lock-up period (if any) and what rates you get on each coin.
Celsius won’t pay you 10% interest on your BTC, for example. But they will give you somewhere between 4-5% depending on how much you hold with them. If you want to earn the big interest rates, you could consider purchasing a stablecoin like TRUEUSD or Gemini Dollar with your fiat and holding there rather than with a bank.
At the end of the day, with all these solutions, you have to give up custody of your coins. If that’s not a problem for you, earning some additional benefits on your crypto makes a lot of sense. If you’re a firm believer that you should retain your private keys at all times, you may be better off simply HODLing after all.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author should not be considered as financial advice. We do not give advice on financial products.
