Deep Dive
1. Governance Transition Finalization (January 2026)
Overview: USUAL is phasing out its USUAL* token (for early contributors) by sunsetting its governance privileges, while transferring intellectual property and infrastructure from the Labs team to DAO ownership.
The code enforces USUAL’s expiration at maturity, removing its majority voting power. Simultaneously, smart contracts governing protocol assets (including treasury management tools) are being redeployed under DAO-controlled addresses. This eliminates centralized backdoors while preserving USUAL holders’ immutable 10% revenue share.
What this means: This is bullish for USUAL because it reduces centralized control risks and aligns incentives – the DAO now directly owns the protocol’s technical stack. (Source)
2. Smart Contract Ownership Transfer (Q1 2026)
Overview: Critical protocol components (revenue distributors, vault controllers) are being migrated to multi-sig wallets governed by USUAL token holders.
The upgrade introduces time-locked governance proposals and automated audits for contract changes. For example, modifying fee distribution parameters now requires a 7-day voting period and on-chain verification of code integrity via checksums.
What this means: This is neutral for USUAL in the short term – while decentralization improves, execution speed may slow. Long-term, it reduces single points of failure.
3. Multichain Security Upgrades (April 2025)
Overview: Codebase updates enabled cross-chain deployments (Base, BNB, Arbitrum) with ZK-powered revenue verification via Brevis, ensuring consistent yield tracking across networks.
The upgrade followed a $16M bug bounty program (the largest in DeFi at the time) that identified 11 medium-risk issues – all patched before mainnet deployment.
What this means: This is bullish for USUAL because expanded chain support increases utility while hardened security reduces exploit risks. (Source)
Conclusion
USUAL’s codebase shifts toward irreversible decentralization, with DAO ownership of core infrastructure now codified. Security remains prioritized via cross-chain ZK proofs and historic bounty programs. Will accelerated governance participation offset potential operational friction from decentralized control?