What is Gemini Dollar (GUSD)?
Gemini Dollar (GUSD) is a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin issued by the Gemini Trust Company, a regulated cryptocurrency exchange and custodian. Launched in September 2018, GUSD is designed to offer the price stability of the U.S. dollar while leveraging the speed and efficiency of blockchain technology. Each GUSD token is pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar and is fully backed by reserves held in FDIC-insured banks and money market funds invested in U.S. Treasury obligations.
GUSD operates on the Ethereum blockchain as an ERC-20 token, making it compatible with a wide range of wallets and DeFi applications. Users can convert U.S. dollars to GUSD on the Gemini platform without any fees, providing a straightforward way to enter the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The stablecoin is supported across numerous DeFi protocols and exchanges, including Uniswap, Aave, Curve, and many others, enabling its use in various financial activities such as lending, borrowing, and trading.
Security and transparency are central to GUSD's design. The Gemini Dollar undergoes monthly audits by the independent accounting firm BPM to ensure that the amount of GUSD in circulation matches the U.S. dollar reserves held by Gemini. Additionally, the smart contract for GUSD has been audited by Trail of Bits, a leading information security firm, and the token's transaction history and current supply can be publicly verified on Ethereum block explorers like Etherscan.