Usual Stablecoin Launch Rockets USD0 into Top 15 Stablecoins by Market Cap: Is a Financial Shake Up on the Horizon?

Debut of a Permissionless Stablecoin Supported by RWA, USD0

Usual, the real-world asset (RWA) stablecoin protocol, has recently unveiled the launch of its public mainnet, spearheaded by its native stablecoin, USD0.

This endeavour aims to offer a decentralised alternative to conventional fiat-backed stablecoins.

The USD0 stablecoin, which was initially launched on 3 June, became publicly accessible on 10 July.

The project also introduces USD0++, a liquid bond variant of the stablecoin, which offers enhanced yield through ownership and governance redistribution.

Since its public debut, USD0's market capitalisation has surged from $74.5 million to almost $130 million, according to DeFiLlama.

CEO and Co-Founder of Usual, Pierre Person, expressed his enthusiasm:

“The surge in Real World Assets (RWA), particularly on-chain US Treasuries, has revealed the market’s appetite. Usual provides an infrastructure that aggregates RWA liquidity while enhancing its integration with DeFi. Our vision is to completely rebuild Tether on-chain. We are driven by a commitment to decentralization and aim to redistribute the generated value to the end user, ensuring fiat-backed stablecoins are truly crypto-minded. We are grateful for the overwhelming support from our investors and early adopters during the private launch, and we look forward to welcoming more users to experience the benefits of our protocol firsthand.”

This rapid growth has catapulted USD0 into the ranks of the top 15 largest stablecoins by market capitalisation.

The total value locked (TVL) of USD0 has also been on a steady increase; it was already at $100 million on 13 July, $125 million on 25 July, and currently stands at approximately $135 million, according to DefiLlama.

USD0 is marketed as the first Liquidity Deposit Token (LDT) from Usual Protocol.

The stablecoin is backed on a 1:1 basis by RWAs, such as US Treasury Bills, through overnight repurchase agreements.

Design Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Adli Takkal Bataille, added:

“We are excited to open our doors to the public and witness the transformative power of the Usual protocol. Our goal is to create a more equitable, transparent, and community-driven financial ecosystem, and this stage brings us one step closer to achieving that vision. Users that begin utilizing the Usual protocol now will get rewarded in various ways during the pre-launch phase, so keep an eye out for updates from official communication channels.”

The Pills Campaign

The swift expansion of USD0's market capitalisation can be partly credited to Usual's innovative Pills incentives programme.

Over the next four months, since 10 July, users have the opportunity to earn Pills, which are similar to points, and will later be converted into the protocol's native token, USUAL.

This initiative allows participants to partake in an airdrop slated for the fourth quarter of 2024.

Usual Pills are pre-launch points that dictate the quantity of USUAL tokens one will receive during the airdrop, representing 7.5% of the $USUAL supply minted at the Token Generation Event (TGE).

The governance token, $USUAL, will be distributed to members of the Usual ecosystem, granting them the right to vote on proposals that shape the future of the token, as stated by the firm.

The Pills programme promises to provide significant incentives for early adopters, emphasising the importance of early participation to maximise rewards.

Engaging actively in the ecosystem by providing liquidity or boosting the TVL through USD0++ minting and holding are among the most effective strategies to accumulate these Pills.

And with the recent launch of their new Vault with MEV on Morpho, users are able to maximise their pills.

$7 Million Raised in Funding from over 100 Firms

In April, Usual Labs, the entity behind the decentralised finance (DeFi) protocol Usual, successfully secured $7 million in funding and a commitment of $75 million in Total Value Locked (TVL) for the launch of its stablecoin, USD0.

Person noted:

“The stablecoin market is highly competitive. This competitive landscape necessitated that Usual innovate to provide a distinctly different approach from our competitors. Usual is dedicated to delivering a stablecoin that upholds a higher standard of safety for its users, with a firm belief that both value and governance should be in the hands of the users.”

The French company attracted investments from over a hundred firms, with IOSG Ventures and Kraken Ventures acting as the lead co-investors.

The investor roster also included GSR, Mantle, Starkware, Flowdesk, Avid3, Bing Ventures, Breed, Hypersphere, Kima Ventures, Psalion, Public Works, and X Ventures.

Kraken Ventures Partner Stuti Pandey said:

"Usual's infrastructure bridges trusted and quality assets from traditional finance with the efficiency of decentralized finance, while sharing profits with users instead of paying it to middlemen."

The $75 million in TVL is composed of investments from the company's direct investors, as well as from entities and individuals within the ecosystem.

This fundraising effort has contributed to the pre-launch preparations of the USD0 stablecoin on the Ethereum mainnet.

Additionally, the funds will support the completion of the testnet phase, the forging of partnerships with industry leaders, and the execution of smart contract audits to ensure the protocol's security and efficiency.

The $7 million represents Usual Labs' total funding to date.

Following the funding round, the firm's board of directors will remain unchanged, underscoring Usual Labs' commitment to independence and its aspiration to achieve decentralisation.

Person expressed:

"Usual is poised to be a Tether Killer, aiming for the same rapid success and growth as Ethena, but with limitless scalability and an ultra-safe real world asset architecture."

What is Usual?

Usual is engineered to offer an alternative to the conventional banking system, which typically appropriates profits from customer deposits while distributing losses among the broader society.

This practice underscores the necessity for a novel financial paradigm that the cryptocurrency industry has brought to light, and which Usual aims to establish through the use of cryptocurrency technology.

Centralised entities behind major fiat-backed stablecoins emulate the problematic frameworks of traditional banking, thereby perpetuating systemic risks through under-collateralised, de facto fractional reserve practices.

This alignment stands in opposition to the core tenets of DeFi.

Person explained:

"Existing stablecoin models lack transparency and equitable value distribution, privatizing their gains and socializing their losses, and going against the ethos that web3 was built on. Usual is proud to be addressing this void by providing a permissionless, real-asset backed stablecoin that shares our profits directly with the community, and empowers our token holders to guide us to the future that they see fit."

Acknowledging these challenges, Usual addresses the intrinsic flaws of fiat-backed stablecoins that replicate the profit privatisation and risk socialisation of traditional banks.

In doing so, Usual strives to disrupt the prevailing financial model and introduce a system that is more congruent with the spirit of decentralisation.

Usual's strategy is to construct a more equitable financial system that redistributes value and power among all users, diverging from traditional finance systems and fiat-backed stablecoins where wealth is concentrated in the hands of a select few shareholders.

This initiative seeks to realign financial incentives and restore power to the participants within the ecosystem.

The Brains Behind the Usual Revolution

Usual Labs was established in 2022 and is headquartered in France.

The company is led by a dynamic team that brings together visionaries and professionals from various backgrounds, including traditional finance, cutting-edge DeFi, Web 2, and the regulatory and political arenas.

DEO Adli Takkal Bataille is an acclaimed blockchain author and seminar leader.

Together, the founders share a vision to create a revolutionary Web3 system built on the principles of ethos, transparency, alignment, and redistribution.

They are committed to challenging the current status quo of profit privatisation and lack of transparency in the stablecoin market.

Pierre PERSON, CEO

Person, a former French politician and member of the National Assembly (French Parliament), was most recently the Vice-President of the presidential political party and played a pivotal role in shaping the country's crypto asset legislation.

Specialising in financial matters and passionate about new technologies, he focused much of his mandate on European sovereignty issues.

His deep interest in blockchain and crypto-assets drove him to explore the regulation of these emerging technologies, aiming to enhance France and Europe's position in the global financial landscape.

His socials: X and LinkedIn

Hugo Sallé de Chou, COO

Co-founder and COO Sallé de Chou, a serial entrepreneur, is responsible for overseeing operations and growth.

An EDHEC Business School graduate, Sallé de Chou launched the Web2 P2P payment startup Pumpkin in 2014, challenging traditional banking and amassing one million users before its acquisition by a major French bank.

As a fintech disruptor and true innovator, he has now turned his focus to DeFi, aiming to develop the next global Decentralised RWA protocol.

His socials: X and LinkedIn

Adli Takkal Bataille, DEO

Bataille, co-founder of Usual and President of the Le Cercle du Coin association, is a distinguished figure in the crypto space.

A graduate of Université Bordeaux Montaigne, he embodies the fusion of creativity and mathematics, with expertise spanning the arts, linguistics, coding, and finance.

After leading the largest crypto non-profit for eight years and advising numerous companies, he embarked on a new venture with Usual.

His mission is to develop a DeFi and RWA infrastructure that redistributes value and power back to the users, staying true to the foundational philosophy of cryptocurrencies.

His socials: X and LinkedIn

Usual's Socials

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Achieve the True Promise of DeFi by Putting Community First

Usual aims to tackle the existing challenges in the stablecoin market by channelling profits back to the community and compensating token holders with tangible yields derived from the RWA that underpin USD0.

Its debut coincides with the emergence of several yield-bearing and DeFi stablecoin competitors.

The USD0 stablecoin, along with the forthcoming TGE of $USUAL, is poised to compete with industry titans and carve out a niche as the premier DeFi-native stablecoin.

It offers users a secure, community-owned alternative to conventional financial systems.

Coinlive believes that the successful private launch and the significant TVL commitments from Web3 space leaders, including Sam Kazemanian from Frax Finance, James Ross from Mode, and Michael Egorov from Curve, among others, underscore the industry's burgeoning faith in Usual's potential to transform the financial landscape and confront its core issues.

Person iterated:

"The support and trust we have received from our hundred visionary investors, including IOSG Ventures and Kraken Ventures, validates our mission to continue to revolutionize the financial landscape."

This phase was instrumental in validating Usual's vision and cementing its status as a trailblazer in the next wave of financial innovations.

By rectifying profound shortcomings in current models and placing control in the hands of users, Usual strives to set a new benchmark for transparency, aligned incentives, and equitable value distribution within decentralised protocols.

Usual is convinced that prioritising the community is the key to fulfilling the genuine promise of DeFi.

Usual may just shake up the financial market, but in a good and not so usual way.