I met the head of a UK Bitcoin exchange today and I started talking about how BitShares is something of long term value, because its a profitable business model implemented on a blockchain that will eventually reward its shareholders with dividends instead of inflation etc etc. He said long term value is a must-have for him to consider adding it.
I think I made a good case today, and he's a really cool guy so Im about to write an email to propose helping out with becoming a gateway, but I was just wondering first:
-Is issuing a gateway IOU inside BTS as profitable for an exchange as just charging the usual 1% fee on every trade made internally?
-Would it be an easier sell to just ask them to trade BTS on their own exchange first? Then they can charge more fees.
-I was thinking of sending a link to this BTS TV episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtCVRIwcBYU Good idea?
Feel free to suggest any other links.
Some benefits of being a gateway:
- Build more trust in clientele because they can follow the IOU on the blockchain.
- Ability to market themselves as the first bitshares gateway to implement fiat (if they are a fiat <=> crypto exchange).
- Less overall risk because centralized servers aren't holding all of the private keys, users are.
Cons:
- Fees are presumably less for gateways, because the orderbook fees are relegated to the blockchain. If they offer a fiat onramp they could be charging fees between fiat and crypto though, like Coinbase or Circle.
To answer your question, I think a gateway is much more valuable then just listing BTS. But having them list BTS could still be a minor win. Get them to start slow and then in the future they could evolve into a gateway. Which exchange is it if you don't mind?