Stablecoin GUSD Gets a Boost from DeFi Giant Maker Protocol

Tyler Winklevoss, who along with his twin brother Cameron is a co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, announced “some good DeFi news” on Twitter. He pointed out that the “M1P6 proposal to add GUSD as a collateral asset to the Maker Protocol passed unanimously,” making it a winning proposal with green light status on the poll.

The vote is no doubt a shot in the arm to GUSD, which currently ranks as No. 500 on CoinMarketCap with a market cap of $11.2 million. Maker boasts $1.47 billion currently locked in DeFi.

Some good #DeFi news. The MIP6 proposal to add GUSD (Gemini USD) as a collateral asset to the Maker Protocol passed unanimously. Thank u to all who voted & showed support. I and the @Gemini team look forward to discussing GUSD on the next available @MakerDAO collateral call. 👍🚀

— Tyler Winklevoss (@tyler) August 31, 2020

Seeing Double

Next up for Winklevoss is a governance call, which has the Maker community seeing double. Tyler showed up on the M1P6 Collateral Onboarding Application forum, which is where user monet-supply first proposed adding GUSD to the mix. One Maker community member hopped over to Twitter to ask the verified Tyler Winklevoss if it was truly him on the forum, which the Gemini co-founder confirmed by saying, “That’s me.”

A wild @tylerwinklevoss spotted on the @MakerDAO forum!

(I hope it's the real you!)https://t.co/3KFpiOLkLx pic.twitter.com/3kmJCZp8iJ

— mariano.eth | 🦇🔊 (@nanexcool) August 31, 2020

It’s not that GUSD is the most in-demand stablecoin. But fortunately for Gemini, the Maker Governance team is looking for diversification:

That appears to be fine with Tyler Winklevoss, who pointed out on the Maker forum that unlike some of its rival stablecoins, GUSD received regulatory approval by the New York State Department of Financial Services. He also noted the coin’s transparency, saying:

GUSD publishes the names of the financial institutions (State Street, Goldman Sachs, etc.) that hold the USD that correspond to GUSD.

DeFi Boom

As previously alluded to, Maker is the one to beat in the DeFi space. It supports cryptocurrency lending and borrowing fueled by its own coins and smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain.

It’s no secret that DeFi is the hottest trend going in the cryptocurrency market currently. According to CoinGecko, the DeFi market cap currently  hovers at $18.3 billion. It is still early innings in the DeFi market, whose popularity some people have compared to the days of the ICO craze.