US crypto exchange Coinbase has enabled full support for trading the stablecoin Dai (DAI), which is now available for retail investors through the company’s Android and iOS apps. The move comes nearly five months after Coinbase has added the dollar-pegged coin to the exchange’s professional trading platform, Coinbase Pro.
Earlier in December, Coinbase listed DAI and Maker (MKR), the two most important digital assets of the MakerDao project. The new cryptocurrency is the second stablecoin to be added to Coinbase’s trading catalog for retail investors, following the addition of USDC, which was developed by Goldman-funded startup Circle, back in December 2018.
DAI is a decentralized cryptocurrency that leverages its crypto holdings to keep price valuation stabilized at around 1 US dollar. But unlike other stablecoins whose value is backed directly by fiat currencies, DAI is backed by crypto collaterals that can be viewed publicly on the Ethereum Blockchain .
Coinbase continues with its new asset listing policy
While announcing the news, Coinbase also noted the platform’s commitment to complying with the standards set by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS), saying DAI will be available for customers in most jurisdictions, but will not initially be available for residents of the state of New York.
While other exchanges offer a more extensive selection of Cryptocurrencies to trade, Coinbase has elected to proceed cautiously while regulators evaluate the legal status of the new assets. However, the company has had a string of recent announcements in a major push to attract crypto traders and grow its user base.
The latest addition comes as no surprise as the popular San Francisco exchange crafted a new asset listing policy earlier last year after getting itself into hot water when it began listing new coins on its platform. Coinbase said it took measures to ensure insiders did not have an early opportunity to trade on the news.
