10 min read

Introduction

Usual decentralizes traditional fiat-backed stablecoins by offering a higher-quality stablecoin, while also empowering users with ownership rights through its governance token. This approach not only enhances the stability and security of the stablecoin but also allows users to have a stake in the issuer's governance, aligning their interests with the success of the protocol and leveraging their yield.

There are two main components:

1. Usual is a stablecoin infrastructure that aggregates the growing tokenized Real-World Assets (RWAs) from entities like BlackRock, Ondo, Mountain Protocol, M0 or Hashnote to transform them into a permissionless, on-chain verifiable, and composable stablecoin (USD0).
2. Usual is a financial infrastructure that aims to redistribute ownership to users and third parties, similar to a scenario where Tether's TVL providers would own the company and its associated revenues.

Usual is

• Led by a former congressman, a liquid fund manager, and an exited fintech entrepreneur
• A team of 23 people
• Supported by 170 investors with a total of $7M raised

The Stablecoin Dilemma

The Problem and Why Usual Was Created

• The most profitable entities in crypto today are stablecoin issuers, operating much like centralized banks. These organizations control vast amounts of liquidity, yet fail to distribute the value they create. They privatize profits while socializing losses, benefiting insiders at the expense of users. Stablecoins have become the liquid form of deposits, and in the future, every liquidity layer of a bank could be tokenized as a stablecoin.
• At the same time, crypto tokenomics—meant to distribute value—are fundamentally broken. Most tokens are empty shells, detached from the real value generated by the underlying protocol. Instead of creating long-term value, they serve insiders, dilute users, and ultimately destroy value.
• This system leaves users holding tokens that lose value over time, while insiders reserve the largest share of the rewards. The tools that should enable decentralized ownership and governance are instead used for speculative gain, without real utility.