Binance Jersey Lists Exchange’s Own GBP-Backed Stablecoin

Published at: July 19, 2019

Fiat-crypto exchange Binance Jersey has listed a proprietary GBP-backed stablecoin, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on July 19.

‘Overwhelming demand’ for stablecoin diversification

Listing of the Binance GBP Stablecoin (BGBP) confirms earlier indications that the major industry player had its sights on imminently issuing its own fiat-pegged assets, starting with a cryptocurrency 100% backed by the British pound.

Binance Chief Financial Officer Wei Zhou has given an official statement, in which he noted that:

“There has been an overwhelming demand in the market and Binance community for more stablecoin diversification, including a GBP-pegged stablecoin.”

Zhou added that increasing awareness of the utility of stablecoins and proliferating use cases for the specialized asset have all contributed to Binance’s decision to list the coin, and to press ahead with other fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies.

As previously reported, Binance first launched its Jersey-based platform in January of this year, designing the exchange to support fiat-to-crypto trading of the euro and British pound with Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) across Europe and the United Kingdom.

More stablecoin fever

Ahead of revealing plans to issue its own assets of the same type, the exchange had embraced — like other major platforms such as OKEx and Huobi — the proliferating issuance of fiat-backed stablecoins.

In fall 2018, it rebranded its Tether (USDT) Market as the combined USDⓈ market to allow for the support of more trading pairs with different stablecoins offered as a base pair in fall 2018.

Earlier this month, Binance completed an upgrade to its Binance Chain mainnet — featuring a revised matching engine and enabling validators to vote on delisting trading pairs on Bianance’s decentralized trading platform, Binance DEX.

Also this month, Binance released a margin trading platform, which it similarly stated had been “one of the most requested services from our community.”

Just yesterday, stalwart if controversial stablecoin issuer Tether revealed plans to release its stablecoin on a fifth blockchain, one based on a permissionless proof-of-stake and open-source protocol.

A study published in June meanwhile indicated that only 66 stablecoins — 30% of total announced tokens — are actually live and operational.