Crypto exchange OKCoin confirms that they recently listed Uniswap’s UNI governance token and are now planning to list cUSDC and cUSDT tokens from Compound, which is another major algorithmic money market developed on Ethereum (ETH).
As explained by the OKCoin team, UNI is the governance token for the Uniswap platform and protocol. Uniswap is a “decentralized” or non-custodial (Ethereum) ERC-20 token exchange that has become one of the most well-known and widely-used Ethereum based applications. The OKCoin team notes that UNI allows its holders to collectively decide or determine in which direction the protocol should move by changing transaction fees, recommending how the treasury should be managed, etc.
OKCoin noted in its blog post:
“cUSDC and cUSDT are yield-bearing assets from Compound, a ‘decentralized’ money-market protocol where users can lend and borrow stablecoins and other Ethereum-based assets. We are the first licensed exchange to support Compound’s c-tokens; we are also exploring the addition of COMP to our offerings as well.”
OKCoin also shared some important crypto and blockchain industry updates. They noted that the Ethereum development group, Optimism, introduced their testnet for Optimistic Ethereum, which aims to serve as a second layer to the Ethereum network that leverages a new technology known as “Optimistic Rollups.”
As explained by OKCoin:
“A rollup is a second-layer sidechain that maintains the security of the main Ethereum blockchain while increasing the speed and decreasing the cost of transactions. The idea is to migrate decentralized applications or dApps and certain smart contracts to a secondary layer, thus reducing stress on the main Ethereum blockchain.”
Decentralized liquidity protocol Synthetix will be joining Optimism in order to take part on its testnet. The test network will allow users to gain synthetic exposure to several different digital assets and real-world assets as well.
OKCoin pointed out that Synthetix users had expressed concerns that transaction fees on the main Ethereum (ETH) blockchain were “unsustainable.” A Reddit user (“Lukazo”) claimed that he had to spend $8 to stake $230 in Synthetix’s SNX token.
The Optimistic Ethereum testnet will allow users that have between 1–2,500 SNX tokens to try interacting with the Synthetix ecosystem via the testnet. However, OKCoin clarifies that this is only a testnet launch with limited functionality. They explained that only a relatively small portion of decentralized finance (DeFi) has been allowed to onboard for now. If the testnet performs well, then Synthetix plans on letting everyone use the Optimistic Ethereum in the future.
The Synthetix team stated:
“This is a huge milestone for Synthetix, Optimistic Ethereum, and indeed the entire Ethereum space… Launching SNX staking on OE is a crucial step towards full scalability for the burgeoning DeFi ecosystem, truly allowing anyone around the world access to open financial infrastructure without the friction of high gas costs.”