A beginner’s guide to Gnosis, Gnosis Tokens (GNO) and how to buy GNO in Australia.
Gnosis is a decentralised prediction market built on the Ethereum protocol. Backed by ConsenSys, it aims to provide an open platform where users can predict the outcome of any event, including everything from elections and insurance to climate change.
Gnosis Tokens (GNO) are one of two tokens native to the Gnosis platform. Read on to find out how the platform works and how to buy GNO through a cryptocurrency exchange.
Where to buy GNO
GNO can be purchased on a wide variety of popular cryptocurrency exchanges, including:
How to buy GNO: A step-by-step guide
If you want to buy GNO, here’s what you’ll need to do:
Step 1. Create an account at a cryptocurrency exchange that allows you to buy GNO
Not every exchange lists GNO, so make sure you find a provider that supports this currency before signing up for an account. You’ll need to provide your name and email address to register, while some exchanges will also require further information, including a phone number and proof of ID.
Make sure you also set up two-factor authentication to help ensure the security of your funds.
Step 2. Deposit funds into your account
It’s important to note that it’s often not possible to exchange fiat currency (such as Australian dollars) directly for cryptocurrency. Instead, you’ll need to buy or own a crypto with which your exchange offers a GNO pairing, such as bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH), and then swap it for GNO. If you don’t already hold one of these cryptocurrencies, you can read our guides to buying below:
The exact process for depositing funds may vary slightly between exchanges, but as a general guide, you’ll need to look for the “Deposit” link from your account homepage and then follow the prompts.
Step 3. Buy GNO
The final step is to search for your desired currency pairing, such as GNO/ETH, and then click on “Buy GNO”. You’ll then be able to specify the amount of GNO you want to buy and choose a market order, limit order or other order type offered by your exchange.
After reviewing the total cost of your transaction, confirm it to finalise your purchase.
How to sell GNO
The process for selling GNO is essentially the same as the process for buying GNO, so click on the “Sell GNO” link on your chosen exchange to get started. However, remember that exchanges don’t support every possible cryptocurrency pairing, so you’ll need to choose from the pairings available on your chosen exchange.
Which wallets can I use to hold GNO?
As GNO is an ERC20 token on the Ethereum network, you can hold your GNO in any Ethereum-compatible wallet. Examples include:
How Gnosis and GNO work
Gnosis was founded in January 2015 by Martin Köppelmann and Stefan George. With an aim to produce a decentralised, user-friendly network for prediction markets, Gnosis held a token launch in 2017 via a Dutch auction. The launch was a successful one, with US$12.5 million worth of tokens purchased within just 12 minutes.
What is a prediction market?
Prediction markets are markets created to allow individuals to speculate on the outcome of an event. Prediction markets are sometimes also referred to as information markets, idea futures, event derivatives, decision markets or virtual markets.Using the Gnosis platform, third-party developers can create betting applications on anything from sports results to elections, celebrity gossip and stock values. Other users can then bet on the outcome of the event, with the data collected during the betting process used to create a prediction.
The Gnosis platform has two native tokens:
- GNO (Gnosis Token). This ERC20 token is used to encourage long-term participation with the Gnosis platform. GNO tokens can be used to generate WIZ tokens via a smart contract system, whereby your GNO tokens are locked in a smart contract for anywhere between 30 and 365 days. There is a total supply of 10 million GNO.
- WIZ (Gnosis Wisdom). Also an ERC20 token, WIZ is the token used to interact with the Gnosis network. These tokens can be used for paying platform fees, speculating on events, creating markets and participating in those markets.
What to consider if buying GNO
If you’re thinking of buying GNO or any other coin, it’s important you complete thorough research and analysis first. Cryptocurrencies are complicated, volatile and speculative, so you’ll need to be fully aware of all the risks you’re taking on before making any purchases.
Consider the following factors before buying GNO:
- Supply. Gnosis Tokens were sold during the company’s 2017 token launch. No more of these tokens will be created, meaning there is a fixed supply of 10 million.
- Ease of access. One important factor that impacts the value of a cryptocurrency is its availability on exchanges. While some cryptos can only be traded on a small handful of exchanges, GNO is widely available across multiple exchanges.
- Future developments. If you want to find more about Gnosis’ plans and future goals, check out the Timeline section of its website. This outlines when the team aims to launch new projects and technologies, such as its decentralised exchange for ERC20 tokens and its Gnosis Safe wallet for Android and iOS devices.
- Competition. Gnosis isn’t the only company working towards creating a decentralised prediction market, with competition also coming from Augur and several other sources. Consider the strengths and weaknesses of Gnosis when compared to its competitors to help determine the future value of GNO.
