What is Usual (USUAL)?

Deep Dive

1. Governance and Community-Aligned Economics

The USUAL token is designed to give users ownership and control over the Usual Protocol. Holders can vote on key parameters, directing the protocol's future. Its unique value proposition is a direct economic link to protocol performance: up to 70% of revenue is used to buy back USUAL tokens from the market, while the remaining 30% is paid weekly in stablecoins to users who lock their tokens long-term (Usual). This model aims to distribute value generated by the stablecoins back to the community, contrasting with traditional models where profits are retained by centralized issuers.

2. Real-World Asset Backed Stablecoin Infrastructure

The protocol's primary function is issuing stablecoins. Its flagship dollar stablecoin, USD0, is fully collateralized 1:1 by tokenized short-term U.S. Treasury Bills from institutional providers like BlackRock and Ondo Finance (Bitrue). A euro-denominated stablecoin, EUR0, is similarly backed by European sovereign bonds. This Real-World Asset (RWA) backing aims for transparency and stability. Users can permissionlessly mint these stablecoins by depositing approved collateral, with reserves verified on and off-chain.

3. Staking Layer and Yield-Generating Ecosystem

USUAL can be staked to obtain USUALx, described as "The Productive Ownership Layer." Staking unlocks basic governance rights and a staking yield. Users can then lock their USUALx for a set period (e.g., one year) to earn a significantly higher locking yield from the protocol's revenue share (Usual App). The ecosystem also includes vaults for various yield strategies and savings products like sUSD0, which allows stablecoin holders to earn yield from the underlying bond markets (Usual).

Conclusion

Fundamentally, USUAL is the engine for a community-owned DeFi primitive that merges traditional finance yields with decentralized governance and profit-sharing. Will its model of directly tying token value to transparent protocol revenue prove sustainable in the evolving stablecoin landscape?