JPMorgan, Intel and TrustToken-led GCO, announced the release of USD Digital (USDD), a new US dollar-backed stablecoin. Based on Ethereum, USDD is targeted at institutions, exchanges, traders, and OTC desks.
The Global Currency Organization (GCO) announced the release of USD Digital (USDD), a new US dollar-backed stablecoin. The stablecoin is based on Ethereum and is targeted at institutions, exchanges, traders, and OTC desk who are in need of such a product but are not able to develop their own.
The Global Currency Organization (GCO) is a new project created by former employees of TrustToken, JPMorgan and Intel. According to the GCO team, the organization has been founded ‘to focus on bridging the gap between traditional and decentralized finance.’ GCO is based in San Francisco. It utilizes blockchain technology to make institutional financial products available to all.
The GCO announcement reads:
“GCO intends to share its revenues* with participating exchanges, wallet companies, and OTC desks. By opening up the stablecoin model to a global network of partners, GCO is focused on providing end users with more gateways to move between fiat and cryptocurrencies around the world.”
According to the organization, USDD is an ERC20 token built on Ethereum and fully backed by US dollars and redeemable through the GCO website, with attestations of the backing funds guaranteed by Cohen & Co. To obtain USDD, you can register on GCO’s website, send money from a bank account and receive USDD for it.
Joe Vellanikaran, CEO of GCO, said:
“We are excited to introduce a stablecoin that is providing an institutional-grade digital currency to everyday traders. We set out to make the benefits of blockchain available to all, a vision that is bigger than any one company. We are thrilled to be releasing USDD and opening up the GCO network to institutional partners worldwide.”
He added:
“With USDD, we are taking the stability and security of a fully-backed stablecoin and opening it up to a global network of partners. This is the next evolution of the stablecoin industry.”
Vellanikaran believes that stablecoins bring numerous benefits to everybody. He explained:
“Let’s say you’re a Japanese student living in the U.S. and you want your parents to send you funds. With the current process, you’d either need a U.S. bank account or be subjected to long delays and conversion fees. With our stablecoin, you should be able to receive your funds in a matter of days.”
Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to minimize price volatility. They’re backed by some ‘stable’ asset or basket of assets be it fiat money or exchange-traded commodities. Over the last year, the number of stablecoins has drastically surged. Just take Facebook, who will launch their Libra stablecoin as an example. As the adoption of stablecoins will continue to increase, the GCO’s project has all the chances to succeed.
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