What Is Pax Dollar (USDP)?
The Pax Dollar (USDP) is a stablecoin that is pegged to the USD at a 1:1 ratio, meaning that the USDP price is equal to $1. The USD reserve that collateralizes Pax Dollar tokens is held in segregated accounts owned by the Paxos company at multiple FDIC-insured banks located throughout the United States. The Pax Dollar coins are stored on the Ethereum blockchain in the form of ERC-20 tokens.
To secure the transactions completed with Pax Dollars, Paxos employs OpenZeppelin's Pausable mechanism for USDP contracts. In essence, it allows pausing USDP transfers whenever there is a threat.
In addition, Withum, a top-tier auditing company, audits the USD deposits. It's responsible for ensuring that the total supply of Pax Dollar tokens matches the USD held in Paxos' reserve accounts. This means that there always has to be a $1 for 1 USDP token. Monthly attestation reports produced by Withum are posted on the Paxos website.
Note that the Pax Dollar price is still subject to some degree of fluctuation. However, it usually stays around $1, even during fluctuations, ensuring that the volatility is kept to a minimum.
The Founders of Pax Dollar
A financial technology company called Paxos is behind the creation of the Pax Dollar tokens. Paxos intends to revolutionize finance by achieving a way to move assets as fast as the internet moves. In 2015, the New York State Department of Financial Services gave Paxos a trust company charter, making Paxos the first licensed financial institution in America to provide cryptocurrency-related goods and services.
Initially, in 2018, Paxos introduced the Paxos Standard stablecoin. However, it was rebranded in 2021 to the Pax Dollar to more accurately reflect the pegged USDP price. Furthermore, in 2012, Paxos launched a cryptocurrency exchange called itBit.
Paxos was founded by Charles Cascarilla and Rich Teo. Prior to founding Paxos, Charles Cascarilla co-founded Cedar Hill Capital Partners and worked at such companies as Claiborne Capital Management, Goldman Sachs, and the Bank of America. Besides, he is the founding board member of the Association for Digital Asset Markets (ADAM).
Talking about Rich Teo, he used to work at Cedar Hill Capital Partners, founded by Cascarilla. He was also a financial analyst at Citi and even a combat signaler in the Singapore Armed Forces.
The Purpose of Pax Dollars
Essentially, USDP tokens are a great way to move USD in a decentralized way without going through third-party banking systems. Just like any other ERC-20 asset, the Pax Dollar can be exchanged over the Ethereum network. Users simply need to transmit tokens to an address managed by Paxos to redeem USDP. Paxos will then burn the USDP tokens and transfer fiat money to the bank account of the user.
Furthermore, another purpose of Pax Dollar tokens is to stabilize the volatility of the whole crypto market. Since the Pax Dollar price is pegged to the USD, it's barely affected by the fluctuations that occur in the crypto market.
Besides lowering the volatility of the crypto market and moving USD, the Pax Dollar crypto assets can function as a plan B for crypto holders during extremely high market fluctuations. How? Crypto holders can simply exchange their assets to USDP, this way preserving the value of their holdings in an asset that is not prone to change much.
Lastly, USDP serves as a utility token that allows itBit exchange users to convert other crypto assets to USDP instantly and free of charge. The stable USDP price also helps reduce the high volatility of the market.
