Coinbase lists MakerDAO stablecoin Dai on its retail platform
Coinbase listed Maker’s stablecoin Dai on its retail trading platform. The move comes is part of a larger strategy to list more trading pairs to keep up with the leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
Coinbase attempting to regain market share
Coinbase has continued to aggressively list new crypto assets. Once considered the “conservative” crypto exchange stemming from the measured pace at which it added new coins, likely to adhere to more restrictive U.S. regulations, starting late last year the exchange changed its strategy to list a greater number of coins.
The change in strategy is possibly a response to Coinbase’s weakening market position. In terms of percentage of total volume, U.S. exchanges including Coinbase are losing market share to the now dominant Binance.
Details on Dai
Dai is the product of Maker, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that provides collateralized loans through a series of smart contracts and oracles, giving users access to credit without a centralized point of control.
Users obtain these loans by locking their Ethereum in a smart contract. In return, users receive Dai, a stablecoin which represents a pool of all ether locked in the platform. Dai is soft-pegged to $1.00 based on the locked-up ETH. Users can then sell Dai for fiat or use it as leverage by trading it for more cryptocurrency.
Unlike fiat-backed stablecoins, Dai maintains its peg through monetary policy conducted through the MakerDAO. The “stability fee,” or the annual APR of a loan is adjusted up or down to encourage borrowers to repay or take out loans. These actions increase or decrease the demand for Dai, allowing the DAO to theoretically maintain its $1 peg.