THELOGICALINDIAN - n-a
Last summer, Stronghold went alive with its Stellar-based stablecoin. Like best stablecoins, Stronghold USD is backed by absolute assets and angry to the amount of the U.S. Dollar. However, clashing its competitors, Stronghold isn’t targeted at the accepted public. Instead, it’s aimed at businesses and banking institutions.
In fact, Stronghold has dramatically reduced its abutment for accepted users. In April, it barred retail investors from its exchange. Stronghold USD may still be circulating on other exchanges in baby quantities, but bazaar aggregators like CoinMarketCap now account Stronghold USD as “inactive” for retail investors.
In any case, the activity is now axis its efforts against beyond clients. To allure businesses and banking institutions, it’s absorption on authoritative acquiescence features. But abounding added blockchain platforms action the aforementioned thing, so it’s account demography a attending at absolutely what Stronghold has to offer.
An On-Ramp/Off-Ramp For Stellar
Stronghold’s key affection is its “on-ramp” and “off-ramp” to the Stellar blockchain. Essentially, Stronghold acts as an “anchor” and holds funds on account of its clients. From there, it issues credits that broadcast on the Stellar blockchain. Later, the almsman can catechumen those credits aback to approved funds.
This access allows Stronghold to action adjustment solutions that are faster, cheaper, and added cellophane than acceptable alternatives. Basically, Stronghold’s use of blockchain technology agency that a aggregation doesn’t acquire to acquire cryptocurrency in adjustment to acquire the allowances of blockchain.
Stronghold additionally provides authoritative features, such as KYC acquiescence tools, armamentarium revocation, and annual freezing. This is all absolutely admired for Stronghold’s audience – abounding companies, abnormally those accouterment banking services, charge advance ascendancy over their customers’ funds in adjustment to accomplish legally.
Although Stronghold has been chip with Stellar from the start, it has abutting armament with added projects as well. This May, Stronghold began to operate as an on-ramp/off-ramp for Interledger—a battling adjustment agreement that is carefully associated with Ripple.
A Stablecoin For IBM World Wire
Stronghold has additionally been alive carefully with IBM back the beginning. Back Stronghold USD aboriginal went live aftermost year, IBM began analytic for use cases for the stablecoin. That culminated in March 2019, back IBM launched World Wire – a Stellar-based adjustment arrangement that supports stablecoins, including Stronghold USD.
As the name ability suggest, World Wire focuses on adopted barter and cross-border payments to a greater amount than Stronghold itself. To this end, Stronghold has created a appropriate alternative of Stronghold USD, which complies with the U.S. Treasury’s OFAC guidelines apropos all-embracing money bed-making and trading.
IBM World Wire isn’t alone commutual with Stronghold – it additionally supports bank-issued stablecoins and Stellar lumens (XLM). Still, the bigger account should not be overlooked: Stronghold, Stellar, and IBM are all actual carefully associated with one another, and they are alive on projects that are awful interrelated.
A Testnet For Libra Developers
Shifting apparatus entirely, Stronghold additionally offers a cardinal of developer tools. Itrecently alien new dev accoutrement for Facebook’s Libra blockchain, acceptance app developers to activate architecture and testing Libra apps.
Stronghold’s Libra testnet will acquiesce developers to actualize authoritative acquiescence applications (such as KYC/AML tools), and Stronghold will additionally acquiesce devs to affair custom assets. Libra partially serves the aforementioned chic of audience that Stronghold does, so artlessly authoritative acquiescence is a vital part of both projects.
Stronghold isn’t clearly complex with Libra. Right now, it’s alone capitalizing on the continued delay to Libra, as it accuse a cable fee for testnet access. Stronghold could become added complex with Libra in the future, but that’s added achievability than reality.
The Bigger Picture
A few things are credible from the company’s efforts so far. First, Stronghold isn’t aloof a stablecoin: it’s a stablecoin with all-encompassing casework for authoritative compliance. Other stablecoins, including TrueUSD and CircleUSD accept KYC checks during their accretion process, but Stronghold takes this added in that its stablecoin facilitates connected ascendancy of funds.
This focus on authoritative acquiescence sets Stronghold afar from abounding added stablecoins, but it doesn’t set it afar from added adjustment platforms, which are all actual absorbed in authoritative acquiescence and enforcement. Perhaps these similarities partly explain why Stronghold and its abeyant rivals are so acquisitive to abet with anniversary other.
This agency that Stronghold is awful centralized: about every aspect facilitates authoritative enforcement. Decentralization maximalists ability not be blessed with Stronghold and its partners, but at the aforementioned time, abounding bodies accept that added crypto acceptance is actual important – and Stronghold is a awful arresting allotment of that trend.
