Just recently, Paxos made an announcement about changing the name of their stablecoin from PAX to USDP.
According to strategies lead at Paxos, Mr. Walter Hessert, the reason why this sudden brand change happened, it’s because Paxos wants to make things a bit clearer that their stablecoin is supported by US Dollar, so changing it to USDP makes things more prominent gives more overall sense to it. This change will also help any new traders in the market to understand that the stablecoin is supported by the US Dollar. Paxos will push to release the updated version of its smart contract on the 31st of this month.
The Shift
During an interview with the Block, Mr. Walter added that the market is starting to shift gears towards the global level of use cases instead of crypto and DeFi-based use cases, in regards to paying for items and many services, so stablecoins have gained a significant amount of importance. Walter also said that people still want more trustable, regulated, and clean stablecoins, so even if there are many other popular options in the market currently, so it is very important that we as a company must also adapt to this growing trend change and shift towards the world of stablecoins instead.
Paxos’s Claims
Paxos wants to improve its identity in the market, especially when it is in competition with other stablecoins, such as Circle and Tether. A previous blog post, released by Paxos itself, highlighted that both USDT and USDC are unregulated, dissecting both of them to justify their claims.
Reserves and Strategies
Walter Hessert further highlighted that the PAX has been keeping its reserves in cash only, specifically calling them “short-term Treasury Bills,” and that Gemini is still reluctant to reveal its reserves and works on the basis of very similar regulations. Reserves and clear strategies from many stablecoins have become something questionable for both the crypto space, and on the 23rd of August, Center said that the backing from USDC was bringing in cash long after the implementation of commercial paper, as well as many different high-risk instruments for more than a year.