Gnosis community members are reconsidering the choice of gas tokens for the chain
On August 30th, according to The Block, Gnosis Chain community members are reconsidering their choice of gas tokens after MakerDAO renamed itself Sky and launched a new stablecoin, Sky Dollar (USDS). Gnosis operates a sidechain and currently uses a bridged version called xDAI to pay gas fees on the network.
MakerDAO is the issuer of DAI, a stablecoin backed by crypto-asset collateral. As part of MakerDAO's "Ultimate Plan", it will allow DAI holders the option to upgrade their tokens to USDS at a 1:1 ratio, while also offering the opportunity for native token rewards. The new USDS stablecoin could introduce more centralised features, including the ability to "freeze" wallet addresses and restrict access for users in the UK and US. The changes have raised concerns among Gnosis Chain users about the reliability of USDS in terms of payment transaction costs.
Community members stressed that the freeze feature of USDS is contrary to the decentralized principles of Gnosis. Community member 0xLajota wrote: "USDS has a'freeze 'feature that allows the use of stablecoins to be blocked in certain wallets and/or smart contracts. This change goes against the very nature of Gnosis, which is decentralized and permissionless use." In response, Gnosis Chain members discussed exploring several alternative solutions, with proposed options including the adoption of decentralized stablecoins such as RAI and LUSD or a basket of currencies. In addition, members also suggested that Gnosis Chain could use its native staking token, Gnosis (GNO), as a Gas token, in line with the practices of other blockchain protocols. This discussion is still at a preliminary stage and no formal proposal has been made at this time.