The world of decentralized finance (DeFi) is constantly evolving, with innovative protocols seeking to provide users with better yield opportunities and financial sovereignty. A recent discussion featured key leaders from Usual and Pendle, two prominent projects in this space, to explore their collaboration and its potential impact on the stablecoin landscape. This article breaks down the core insights from their conversation.
What is the Usual Protocol?
Usual is a stablecoin protocol that distinguishes itself by using Real-World Assets (RWA), specifically short-term U.S. Treasuries, as its primary collateral.
Pierre Person, CEO and Co-founder of Usual, brings a unique background to the project. "Two years ago, I was a member of the French Parliament, working mainly on monetary policy and serving as a political advisor to President Macron. In 2022, I founded Usual," he shared. The protocol has grown significantly, now boasting a Total Value Locked (TVL) of nearly $360 million. Its core philosophy is to use decentralized data to rebuild a stable feedback mechanism, granting users greater data ownership and a fair share of the value generated.
Yoko, Growth Lead at Usual, further elaborated: "Usual is a stablecoin protocol collateralized by RWA short-term U.S. Treasuries. We aim to attract users through a fair, just, and transparent method, offering a highly composable DeFi product with a low barrier to entry."
Introduction to Pendle Finance
TN, CEO and Co-founder of Pendle, provided an overview of his protocol. "In simple terms, Pendle is a yield tokenization protocol." Launched in 2020, Pendle allows users to speculate on future yield or lock in fixed rates. Users who want to speculate on yield can purchase Yield Tokens (YT), which offer an implicit leverage effect for potentially greater returns. Conversely, more conservative users can purchase Principal Tokens (PT) to secure a fixed, predetermined yield.
The Genesis of the Usual and Pendle Collaboration
The partnership between these two protocols began to take shape in August when Usual launched its first liquidity pool on Pendle.
Pierre Person explained the synergy: "The purpose of this collaboration is to leverage Pendle's mechanism to help Usual grow. There are many commonalities between our projects." He highlighted how Pendle's structure caters to two distinct user behaviors that benefit Usual. YT buyers, who are often early adopters willing to take on more risk, effectively cast a vote of confidence in Usual's upcoming Token Generation Event (TGE). Meanwhile, PT buyers represent a more conservative base that prefers fixed yield without direct exposure to the pre-launch token. This dynamic has helped drive significant growth in Usual's TVL.
TN recalled first meeting Pierre at Token2049 in Dubai. "A lot of friends suggested I talk to Pierre and their team. I found their vision to be a very attractive and interesting product," he said. Pendle is selective with its partnerships, and TN emphasized that the Usual team's strong execution, high efficiency, and professional operations were key factors in the decision to collaborate.
Yoko added that community education has been a vital part of the joint effort, with both teams working closely to help users understand Usual's vision and tokenomics.
Unveiling the New USD0++ Pool on Pendle
A major focus of the discussion was the launch of a new liquidity pool on Pendle called USD0++, which succeeds a previous pool that expired on October 31st.
Yoko detailed the enhancements: "The new pool expires in March of next year and is already performing exceptionally well." The improvements include:
- A New PT Strategy: An initial $400,000 in capital was provided by Usual's risk curators and was quickly borrowed, demonstrating high demand. Further capital injections are scheduled with time-lock mechanisms for security.
- Increased Liquidation Ratio: The liquidation ratio has been raised to 97%, a important factor for users employing leverage.
- Doubled Base Points: The base points for each YT and LP have been doubled from 3 to 6, significantly boosting potential rewards for participants.
- A Lottery Event: A promotional lottery with 10 prizes is underway to engage the community.
The pool has consistently ranked among the top three, and often first, by yield on Pendle's homepage. The goal, as Yoko stated, is to "provide better yield opportunities for DeFi users, the Usual community, and the Pendle community."
Why the Name USD0++?
The name stems from the difference between USD0 and its staked version. USD0 is a stable币 pegged 1:1 to RWA short-term U.S. Treasuries. By itself, it does not generate yield; users must provide liquidity in various DeFi pools to earn a return.
USD0++ is the staked version of USD0. It has a 4-year lock-up period but allows users to unstake 1:1 for USD0 at the project's TGE, safeguarding their principal against bank-run risks. USD0++ is where users capture the majority of the protocol's yield.
Usual's Vision: Why Build Another Stablecoin?
The stablecoin market is crowded, dominated by giants like USDT and USDC. Pierre Person explained Usual's raison d'être: "We saw that many legacy stablecoins were making huge profits for their issuers without sharing any of it with the users... Usual's true idea is to distribute the收益 from the USUAL token to the users, giving them more ownership."
He emphasized a commitment to transparency and community value capture, contrasting it with the opacity of some established players. A recently announced token economic model reinforces this, pledging that 90% of pre-sale tokens will be returned to the community. "Ultimately, what brings real value to Usual is the liquidity provided by people, it's the community," Pierre stated.
Yoko added that while complex, USUAL's tokenomics are designed for robust DeFi composability. The token grants governance rights and, crucially, its value is backed by real cash flow from the protocol's RWA assets, not created from nothing.
The Relationship Between USUAL Token and USD0 Stablecoin
A key differentiator for Usual is how its governance token is intrinsically linked to the protocol's health.
Pierre Person outlined the mechanics: "The revenue of the Usual protocol itself is the income from the U.S. Treasury collateral." This revenue, projected to be between $15-16 million next year based on TVL growth, flows 100% into the protocol's treasury.
The USUAL token is deflationary. "It's a bit like Bitcoin's halving mechanism... USUAL tokens will become scarcer," Pierre explained. This creates a system that rewards early participants more heavily. Most importantly, new USUAL tokens are only minted when new cash flow enters the protocol, ensuring the token's value is tied directly to protocol growth and revenue—a feature many governance tokens lack.
Yoko addressed a common concern about interest rate risk: "If U.S. Treasury rates fall, we will reduce the amount of pre-sale tokens minted to ensure users' allocation ratio remains unchanged." This design aims to protect token value from external macroeconomic factors.
Evaluating Usual's Token Economic Model
TN from Pendle offered his perspective on the often complex world of tokenomics. "Ultimately, the specific mechanism you choose is not particularly important. I believe the purpose of tokenomics is to encourage the positive development of the project and promote the growth of the protocol."
He noted that many models are viable, but they often fail because the underlying protocol doesn't generate substantial revenue. He sees Usual's ve-token model, inspired by Curve, as a solid foundation. However, he stressed that the true drivers of token price are concrete metrics like TVL and transaction volume, both of which have seen significant growth for Usual.
Navigating a Competitive Stablecoin Landscape
With competition from both crypto-native projects and Web2 giants like PayPal, Usual's strategy for expansion is critical.
Pierre Person believes that while becoming a payment medium is a long-term goal, it requires massive scale. Usual's initial strategy for expansion is different: "The way we scale is by giving users the right to redistribute the value generated by the stable currency." He envisions Usual as a bridge between traditional cash liquidity and DeFi, a new form of decentralized commercial bank. Long-term, the plan is to build an ecosystem of products on top of this liquidity foundation to generate additional revenue streams beyond RWA yield.
Yoko acknowledged the high market demand for yield and innovation in the stablecoin sector. She sees RWA as a powerful tool for onboarding traditional finance (TradFi) capital into DeFi, which is crucial for the space's growth. Usual also has plans for future innovative products like DAI0.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How does USD0++ differ from USD0?
USD0 is a stablecoin pegged 1:1 to RWA collateral and does not natively generate yield. USD0++ is a staked version of USD0 that has a lock-up period but allows users to earn the majority of the protocol's yield. Users can unstake USD0++ for USD0 at a 1:1 ratio upon TGE to protect their principal.
Is Usual's token model really like Bitcoin's?
While both have deflationary characteristics, they are quite different. USUAL does not have a fixed supply cap like Bitcoin. Its supply and minting rate are dynamic and change based on the growth of the protocol's TVL and incoming cash flow. The system is designed to adjust to various market conditions to protect token value.
What happens to USUAL if U.S. Treasury interest rates fall?
The protocol is designed to be resilient. If interest rates fall, the amount of pre-sale tokens minted would be reduced. This ensures that the allocation ratio for users remains stable, protecting the value of their tokens from dilution due to external economic factors.
Why choose to build on Pendle?
Pendle offers a unique yield-tokenization mechanism that caters to both speculative (YT) and conservative (PT) investors. This allows Usual to attract a broader range of users and capital. The partnership has proven successful in driving TVL growth and community engagement for Usual.
What is the main goal of the Usual protocol?
Usual aims to create a more transparent and fair stablecoin ecosystem where the value and收益 generated by the protocol are distributed back to the users and community, rather than being retained solely by the issuing company. It uses RWA collateral to provide a robust backing for its stablecoin.
How does Usual plan to compete with large, established stablecoins?
Instead of competing directly on payments initially, Usual is focusing on its core value proposition: fair value distribution and high, transparent yields through DeFi composability. By first capturing users seeking these benefits, it aims to build the scale necessary to expand into other use cases like payments later.