there are a couple potential positives though. so many exchanges hold lots of USDT---if anything ever happens to tether, we'll see huge losses across the ecosystem. i think it would be healthy to see that risk spread around to some other exchanges. the other thing is, i've never been able to register with gemini because of their ID requirements. it'd be funny if i could hold GUSD to ride out downtrends despite them refusing me as a customer.
I'm not sure if that's really a positive. You're basically infecting the market even further with something (stable coins) you don't want to see gain traction in this ecosystem.
Centralized exchanges are necessary at this stage, considering how thin the p2p market is. And people are going to use them regardless of what we want to see. It makes no difference whether those USD liabilities are represented as a balance in your Gemini account or as GUSD. They are exactly the same thing -- a deposit redeemable at Gemini.
The only new development here is that we have a new option besides USDT, issued by a much safer exchange. More options = better, and it can help people avoid KYC. I don't see how this could ever be construed as a bad thing, unless you really like Tether and want USDT to continue dominating.
In the end, all stable coins have one thing in common, which is that they aren't actually pegged to the dollar. The only thing that makes these coins worth a dollar is that you can go to the issuer to sell them for $1 a pop. The stable coin itself nothing more than a regular token with a promise of the issuer tied to it. In other words, you'll be able to hold GUSD just like how you can hold USDT.
That's the point. Tether and Bitfinex are really shady. I think they're far more likely to have problems with regulators, law enforcement and banks than Gemini. I'd much rather hold GUSD than USDT. The issue isn't about stablecoins; it's about the reliability of their issuers.
1 USDT is currently worth +$4 USD at WEX. Just shows you how worthless these pegs really are.
That's because WEX shut down BTC and USD withdrawals, as well as several others. Anyone who wants to exit WEX needs to pay a huge premium to get their money out. That's why the USDT premium exists there, because you can actually withdraw it. It's worth $1 everywhere else.