OKX Ventures, the investment arm of global crypto exchange OKX, has officially announced its strategic investment in USUAL.
USUAL is a decentralized stablecoin issuer that claims to redefine the financial landscape through real-world asset (RWA) integration and decentralized governance.
USUAL’s approach to stablecoin issuance, particularly through tokenized U.S. Treasury Bills (T-Bills) and user-governed protocols, aims to challenge the traditional stablecoin giants such as Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC) through their wealth redistribution and community ownership approach.
OKX Ventures Invests In USUAL: Is This The Next Big Stablecoin?
USUAL’s flagship product, USD0, is fully collateralized by T-Bills, providing stability and security comparable to traditional financial instruments.
Unlike centralized stablecoins, USUAL operates on a permissionless, decentralized framework where governance is driven by its native token, $USUAL.
Token holders participate in decision-making and share in the economic benefits of the stablecoin’s expansion, effectively turning users into co-owners of the protocol.
The journey of USUAL began with a vision to reimagine stablecoin issuance by embedding real-world financial assets directly into DeFi protocols.
USUAL has successfully integrated tokenized T-Bills into its collateral pool by securing partnerships with leading financial entities such as BlackRock and Hashnote.
USUAL has also aligned itself with prominent DeFi platforms, including Curve, Pendle, Morpho, and Ether.fi, which has allowed the protocol to expand its liquidity strategies and yield optimization models.
This synergy has enabled USUAL to achieve significant milestones, including surpassing $1.4 billion in total value locked (TVL) and securing a position among the top five stablecoins in market capitalization.
Source: DefillamaThe stablecoin’s market capitalization currently stands at $625 million, with a trading volume of $968 million in the past 24 hours.
According to Coingecko, today, the USUAL native token price surged by 21.3%, reaching $1.32 in the past 24 hours.
Source: CoinGeckoThis growth has positioned USUAL as the fastest-growing fiat-backed stablecoin on Ethereum. This is particularly noteworthy as stablecoin supply in Ethereum Layer 2s recently reached $13.5 Billion.
This latest investment reflects a broader industry trend toward integrating RWAs into DeFi to bridge the gap between traditional finance and decentralized ecosystems.
Strategic Investments Amid Growing Stablecoin Market
Notably, USUAL’s trajectory was also significantly boosted with a $10 million Series A funding round led by Binance Labs and Kraken Ventures, alongside investments from Galaxy Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, and OKX Ventures.
Pierre Person, CEO and Co-Founder of USUAL Labs emphasized that this funding round marks a pivotal moment for the project, positioning it as one of the most promising projects in stablecoin and DeFi sectors for 2024.
He further said:
“This milestone will propel Usual’s expansion from DeFi into CeFi, with the support of backers who are committed to reshaping the stablecoin landscape.”
Adli Takkal Bataille, Co-Founder and DEO of USUAL Labs, also highlighted the protocol’s innovative value redistribution model.
According to Bataille:
“We are bringing fiat-backed stablecoins into the DeFi era, the next phase of our journey will accelerate this transformation, creating unprecedented opportunities for users.”
USUAL’s community-first approach is further exemplified by its commitment to allocate 90% of its token supply to users.
This model contrasts sharply with traditional stablecoin projects, where profits are centralized within the issuing company.
The stablecoin market is seeing significant growth, with giants like Ripple also looking to capitalize on it with its recently launched stablecoin called RLUSD.
Ethena Labs also recently launched its USDtb stablecoin backed by BlackRock Liquidity Fund.
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