Bitcoin Cash Gets Its First Stablecoin

Watch out, Tether—you’ve got competition, including in some unlikely places. CoinEx yesterday announced trading for Honestcoin (USDH), a new fiat-backed cryptocurrency.

While another dollar-valued token is nothing to write home about, Honestcoin has one unique characteristic: it’s the first stablecoin on the Bitcoin Cash blockchain.

“HonestCoin (USDH) is the first regulated Stablecoin project issued on Bitcoin Cash,” CoinEx said in a blog post.

The dollar-valued tokens will be collateralized with fiat “by HonestNode and Prime Trust (A USA Trust company), 1-to-1 for US dollars.” Crypto Briefing was unable to verify this claim.

According to the blog post CoinEx users can mint their own tokens with dollar deposits, through Honestcoin’s website, or buy USDH with USDT.

Unlike other stablecoins, which run on Ethereum, TRON or Bitcoin’s OMNI layer, USDH runs on SLP, a new BCH standard which provides similar functionality to ERC-20 tokens. The Simple Ledger Protocol allows users to issue assets on the Bitcoin Cash blockchain, such as “gaming assets, licenses, digital media rights, gift cards, and company stock.”

At present, there are over 1500 different SLP tokens, but few signs of significant adoption. Most tokens have only a few hundred addresses.

While most exchanges recognize BTC as the legitimate Bitcoin, CoinEx is exceptionally BCH-friendly. The Hong Kong-based marketplace, which is ranked 61st in adjusted trading volume,  currently lists over two dozen Bitcoin Cash trading pairs.

The new coin met mixed enthusiasm from the Bitcoin Cash community. “A stablecoin is only as trustworthy as its audit,” wrote one user on /r/btc. Another asked, “Do we suddenly love Tether-like instruments just because they’re on BCH?”

All the same, a new stablecoin is an unexpected baby-step from a blockchain which many observers pronounced dead last year. Bitcoin Cash is currently valued at nearly $420- a 6% gain over the past 24 hours, and 350% over the past five months.

But don’t expect Honestcoin to catch up with Tether anytime soon. According to the BCH block explorer, Honestcoin has only minted 11,000 USDH. Ten thousand tokens are concentrated in a single address, with the remainder scattered across 21 other addresses.

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