Goldman Sachs’ startup, Circle, has announced that it plans to launch its own crypto. The new currency will be called Circle USD Coin, and it will serve as the US dollar’s digital version. With this currency, users will be capable of paying for pretty much any goods or services that they want.
This coin is the first crypto to ever be released by such a big financial institution. Despite the fact that this opposes the entire concept of decentralization, it might still have some positive impacts on the crypto market in general, not least of which would be its inherent and anticipated stability, something the market needs at this point. In 2018 alone the market has experienced numerous crashes and periods of recovery.
CNBC has reported on this new development and, according to them, Circle will be tied to the US dollar in order to avoid instability, something which every other crypto is subject to since they are largely unregulated.
This decision was greeted with mixed feelings from crypto enthusiasts, with some pointing out that centralized crypto is the very opposite of the reason why cryptos have been created in the first place. Despite the likelihood that introducing a crypto like this might inspire more effort when it comes to bringing regulation, many are still saying that a crypto based on the US dollar needs to have a strongly controlled distribution. One of the loudest voices regarding this issue includes Sam Altman, a Silicon Valley investor.
How to acquire Circle USD Coins?
Cryptocurrencies can usually be acquired via purchasing, trading, or crypto mining. When it comes to Circle’s coins, mining will not be possible. The coins will be using Ethereum’s platform for now, but they still cannot be mined. Instead, the only way to acquire them is by purchasing them from Circle. The token’s value will be equal to that of the dollar, which means that paying $1 will get you 1 dollar-coin. This system will only allow people to use cryptos to make their payments, instead of using credit or debit cards, or alternatively, cash.
Even though many do not see the point in doing this, it may make sense from Goldman’s perspective. After all, the bank would like to keep the market under control, especially since they have already invested in the crypto world. Not to mention the announcement that they made regarding the possibility of trading Bitcoin (BTC) in their investors’ names.
The only thing that Circle’s tokens will achieve for now is the introduction of a stable, secure crypto. Despite the fact that it doesn’t have an obvious practical purpose as of yet, it might warm up more people to the idea of using cryptos. Also, if it helps stabilize the market, that would be a big plus too.