What is Usual (USUAL)?

Deep Dive

1. Purpose & Value Proposition

Usual Protocol addresses perceived shortcomings in traditional stablecoins—such as centralized profit capture and opaque reserves—by creating a decentralized alternative. Its primary value proposition is twofold: issuing stable, transparent stablecoins and redirecting the financial yield from those assets back to the protocol's participants. Instead of profits going to a central issuer, they are shared with the USUAL token community through mechanisms like buybacks and direct payments, creating a more equitable model.

2. Technology & Architecture

The protocol's stability is engineered through real-world asset (RWA) collateralization. Its flagship stablecoin, USD0, is fully backed by tokenized short-term U.S. Treasury Bills from institutional providers like BlackRock and Ondo Finance. A similar euro-pegged stablecoin, EUR0, is backed by European sovereign bonds. This structure aims for a 1:1 reserve ratio, with both on-chain and off-chain verification for transparency. The system also includes products like USD0a, a yield-accruing version of USD0, and savings tokens ($sUSD0/$sEUR0) that allow users to earn yield on their stablecoin holdings.

3. Tokenomics & Governance

The USUAL token is central to the ecosystem's decentralized governance and value distribution. Holders can stake and lock their tokens to vote on proposals and earn rewards. The tokenomics are designed to be community-centric, with 90% of the supply allocated to users. Notably, up to 70% of protocol revenue is used to buy back USUAL from the open market, while the remaining ~30% is paid weekly in USD0 to users who lock their tokens, directly linking tokenholder rewards to protocol performance.

Conclusion

Fundamentally, Usual is a community-governed financial protocol that merges the stability of traditional asset-backed money with the transparent, profit-sharing incentives of decentralized finance. Will its model of redistributing yield from real-world assets prove to be a sustainable foundation for a next-generation stablecoin ecosystem?