Aave protocol launches stablecoin GHO on Ethereum mainnet, $2M minted

Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Aave has launched its algorithmic United States-dollar pegged stablecoin GHO on the Ethereum mainnet, with $2.19 million worth of GHO minted so far.

Aave announced the launch of the new stablecoin in a July 16 blog post, describing the new stablecoin GHO as a “decentralized, over-collateralized” asset. The stablecoin is backed by a “multitude” of digital assets including Ethereum’s native currency Ether (ETH $1,932) and Aave’s native token AAVE (AAVE $78.38).

The launch of GHO on mainnet came after a community governance vote, which saw nearly 100% of the 424 participating addresses vote in favor of the new stablecoin.

Unlike centralized stablecoins such as Tether’s USDT (USDT $1.00), which have drawn some criticism for an apparent lack of transparency around its reserves, the assets backing GHO are transparent and verifiable and can be confirmed by on-chain data, according to Aave.

“All transactions are performed through self-executing smart contracts, and all data regarding GHO transactions is available and auditable directly from the blockchain or via numerous user interfaces,” Aave wrote.

Additionally, Aave said GHO’s revenue would further bolster its DAO treasury, with governance being entrusted to AAVE and stkAAVE token holders.

Total circulating supply of GHO since inception. Source: DeFiLlama

The GHO stablecoin is currently available to the public:

Anyone can mint GHO using the assets they supply into the Aave Protocol V3 Ethereum market as collateral, ensuring that GHO is overcollateralized by a multitude of assets.

The launch of GHO marks another addition to the growing ranks of DeFi-native algorithmic stablecoins. On May 4, DeFi protocol Curve launched its flagship algorithmic stablecoin crvUSD.

At the time of publication, MakerDAO’s Ethereum-based stablecoin DAI is the largest algorithmic stablecoin in circulation, commanding a $4.28 billion market capitalization according to data from DefiLlama.

However, the total stablecoin market remains dominated by centralized issuers including Tether and Circle.

Stablecoin dominance by market capitalization. Source: DeFiLlama

At current, Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USD Coin (USDC $1.00) account for 87% of the total circulating supply of all U.S.-dollar pegged stablecoins.

At the time of publication, GHO is trading slightly below the desired $1 peg at $0.9927 and has fallen as low as $0.9814 on July 16, according to price data from CoinMarketCap. 

Cointelegraph contacted Aave for comment but has yet to receive an immediate response.