David: Please welcome USDD_io, Community Manager at USDD. How are you?
USDD_io: Glad to be here. Guarda is a great crypto asset wallet, and USDD is proud to partner with you.
David: Thank you. I am glad USDD and Guarda organized this AMA session. I saw many excellent questions people wanted to ask you.
USDD_io: I can’t wait to see what the community has to ask, so let’s get started.
Introduction
David: First things first, could you please introduce yourself and tell us about USDD?
USDD_io: Hello, everyone. I am the USDD community manager and am very happy to share the latest developments in USDD today.
USDD (Decentralized USD) is the first over-collateralized decentralized stablecoin with a guaranteed minimum collateral ratio of 130%. It has been launched collaboratively by the TRON DAO Reserve (TDR) and top-tier mainstream blockchain institutions. The USDD protocol runs on the Tron network, is connected to Ethereum and BNB Chain through the BTTC cross-chain protocol, and will be accessible across more blockchains in the future.
David: I saw quite a few questions about the USDD community and Tron network. We will get to it in a bit. Now, what makes USDD special, in your opinion?
USDD_io: Almost no technological innovation in the crypto industry has happened overnight. For example, Bitcoin’s underlying cryptography derives from research results achieved by previous generations. Likewise, the transformation of USDD is based on Maker’s model. Drawing strength from Maker, USDD has been endowed with the following advantages.
- Ultra-high collateral ratio. Both USDD and DAI are over-collateralized decentralized stablecoins, but the former offers a collateral ratio of 130%, surpassing the 120% of DAI and is the highest in the industry. According to real-time stats, the actual collateral ratio of USDD has surged past 130% to hit 280%. This is the key to USDD’s security and stability, making it a safe asset with the support of sufficient reserves, even when the market crumbles.
Transparency. Users can access the collateral-related information anytime on USDD’s official website or the TDR’s website. They can also see the number of the transfers’ ins and outs of the collateralized assets, the time of the transactions, and the transfer amount in real-time. Such transparency is unprecedented in the current stablecoin market.
High fund utilization rate. Although they are in the same category of over-collateralized stablecoins, DAI allows users to mint tokens, whereas the minting rights of USDD belong to the whitelisted institutions of the TDR. In this sense, the fund utilization rate of USDD outperforms that of DAI. Moreover, USDD is built on a secure, efficient, and affordable TRON chain compared to the Ether-based DAI. As a result, users can enjoy a smoother experience and lower gas fees, which can further improve the fund utilization rate.
David: That is excellent. Thank you for adding the slide. I have been talking with community members, and they wanted to know more about USDD and Tron. What is the connection?
USDD_io: Users who are familiar with TRON know that TRON has built a robust stablecoin ecosystem, including USDT, USDC, USDJ, and TUSD. TRON’s stablecoin ecosystem now consists of USDT, USDJ, TUSD, USDC, and USDD. Among them, two are industry-leading players, one decentralized stablecoin and one compliant USD-backed coin. This diversity has boosted TRON’s resilience against the market and regulatory risks, offering our users flexible and reliable investment options.
Built on the back of TRON’s thriving stablecoin ecosystem, USDD became a new decentralized stablecoin fully backed by a combination of stable and volatile assets. Initially, USDD is over-collateralized by high-quality and low-volatility assets, including USDT, USDC, and BTC. The collateralization rate is currently over 280%. By increasing the USDD supply slowly, we will be cautious with expansion.
USDD adopts a completely decentralized architecture. The USDD protocol is dedicated to providing the blockchain industry with the most stable, decentralized, tamper-proof, and freeze-free stablecoin system, a perpetual system independent from any centralized entity. As we all know, in December 2021, the Tron network achieved complete decentralization and became the world’s largest decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). USDD was born with security and transparency as a major move from TRON to deliver the mission of decentralization.
David: Fully backed by a combination of stable and volatile assets - very important indeed. Good to know. What’s the eventual goal?
USDD_io: Our end goal is to make equitable access to financial services a fundamental human right. In time, financial services will become a necessity, like water and air, accessible to people worldwide. And I staunchly believe that this day will come.
David: Have to agree. That’s something Guarda stands by. And this is one of the main reasons why Guarda is a non-custodial platform.
USDD_io: That’s why we are willing to partner with the excellent Guarda
David: Time to talk about milestones. What are the major ones USDD has achieved so far?
USDD_io: We are very proud of our progress. USDD has become CoinMarketCap’s Top 100 coins and is now ranked No 56. In addition, the total supply of USDD has passed $800 million, and the amount of TRX burned has reached 8.99 billion, proof of an incredible momentum so far.
USDD is currently circulating on TRON, BNB Chain, Ethereum, and Arbitrum and is available on multiple platforms such as SUN io, Uniswap, PancakeSwap, Curve, Ellipsis, KyberSwap, Poloniex, Huobi Global, KuCoin, Gate.io, Bybit, Bitget, Lbank, Bibox, BTSE, BitMart, and MEXC. In addition, it has drawn in numerous USDD miners thanks to an ultra-high APY.
David: That’s impressive.
USDD_io: Additionally, USDD promises around 30% yield on its official mining platforms, such as SunSwap, SUN.io, and JustLend. This has added to its charm for DeFi users and spurred the growth of TRON’s DeFi ecosystem. Stats on DefiLlama reveal that the combined TVL across popular DeFi projects has dropped by around 50% in the past month. Bucking this trend, the TVL on TRON rocketed by 42.7%. This could have never been achieved without USDD.
You can also participate in USDD mining with your Guarda wallet and enjoy juicy rewards.
David: Was about to say.
USDD_io: We all know that Guarda Wallet is powerful and easy to use.
David: Thank you. I want to talk with members of the crypto miners community. If you are reading this, please reach out to us.
Now, shall we look at some of the questions the community has submitted?
USDD_io: Happy to answer the questions from the community.
David: Friendly reminder: if you see your question here, that means you will be getting a token of appreciation by USDD.
Community Section
USDD Backing and Terra LUNA UST Depeg Lesson
David: This question is about an elephant in the crypto room, if I may. Is the lesson of Terra LUNA still there? Does USD back USDD 100%, or is it backed by a cryptocurrency and anchored by some algorithm?
USDD_io: It’s a good question.
In fact, we witnessed the consequences of UST’s missteps. So, after thinking through UST’s challenges and learning from them, we set out to build a better-decentralized stablecoin.
And the market has mistakenly equated the relationship between TRX and USDD to that between Luna and UST. That’s a misunderstanding.
- Luna and UST used an arbitrage system to maintain UST’s peg. Luna and UST are pegged to $1 by an arbitrage system of burning and minting. UST peg does not rely on the existence of any reserves to support the peg. Users mint 1 UST by depositing 1 USD worth of LUNA tokens on the Terra Station to be burnt. If the price of one UST is higher than $1, $1 worth of Luna can be bought and burnt to mint one UST, which is to be sold for an instant profit; meanwhile, if the price of UST is lower than $1, one UST can be bought and burnt to mint $1 worth of Luna, which is to be sold for profit, too. The arbitrage mechanism helps UST peg to the U.S. dollar. The whole process relies heavily on Luna’s liquidity and token value. Once UST was supplied and minted far more than the realizable market value of Luna, the stability of UST could no longer be sustained, and a death spiral would be formed.
That is exactly what has happened since May 9, 2022, before which the total value of UST was $18.7 billion, and that of Luna was as close as $20.4 billion. However, after the de-peg of UST on May 9, hundreds of millions of Luna were minted under the arbitrage system. As a result, the supply of Luna surged 18,000 times from May 9 to May 14, with Luna’s price plummeting to 1.8 parts-per-million (ppm) and the market value shrinking to 3%. Now that Luna could no longer support the tremendous amount of UST, a complete de-pegging was doomed.
- The stability of USDD is backed by the reserve assets of the TDR, not the price of TRX. USDD’s price stability is maintained by a basket of monetary policies adopted by the TDR and backed by its reserve assets. Therefore, as long as the TDR holds a sufficient and healthy reserve, the price of USDD is stable.
The details of the TDR’s reserve assets are published in real-time on TRON DAO Reserve. As of now, there are 990 million USDC, 175 million USDT, 14,000 BTC, and 10.9 billion TRX in reserve, with a total market value of close to $2.3 billion, around 3 times the value of the 800 million USDD in circulation.
Even under the extreme circumstance when the value of TRX reaches zero, the remaining reserve assets worth $1.4 billion are still double the value of USDD in circulation. Therefore, the TDR reserve can provide sufficient and healthy liquidity for the stability of USDD.
The mutual-minting relationship between TRX and USDD is just part of the effort made to help maintain USDD’s linked exchange rate system, which can be explained by referring to Hong Kong’s case: the Hong Kong Monetary Authority allows swaps between the RMB and the HK dollars, but the RMB is not pegged to the HK dollar. In fact, the stability of the HK dollar is backed by a basket of currencies, including the RMB.
In a nutshell, price swings in TRX do not have a substantial correlation to USDD’s price stability, so every USDD holder is advised to remain rational and not be misled in the face of market rumors.
David: Remain rational and don’t be misled in the face of the market rumors. That’s definitely a great piece of advice.
USDD_io: Take your time to understand my answer, and thanks to the Guarda community for letting me explain.
GameFi and NFTs
David: Thank you. The next question is about your NFT game. To be completely honest, I did not know there was one - until now. “The NFT game is evolving too quickly, and the potential for breaking is very strong. What are your thoughts on this, and what is USDD’s plan for contributing to the growth of NFT Game?”
USDD_io: From the perspective of NFTs, TRON’s NFT trading platform APENFT Marketplace has shown a strong growth momentum ever since its inception. With multitudes of top-notch NFTized artworks and crypto artists, it is expected to break the monopoly of OpenSea in the NFT world. Besides, TRON plans to release several new blockchain games later this year, where USDD may play an indispensable role in the games’ tokenomics.
David: I will definitely check it out.
USDD_io: At that time, you can still use your Guarda wallet to participate.
It is foreseeable that the TRON-based USDD, a pioneer of the stablecoin 3.0 era, will be introduced to more blockchain ecosystems and applications in the near future. And with a growing supply and user base, it will usher in a new era for stablecoins by promoting full decentralization in the blockchain industry and decentralized finance in the world at large.
David: apenft.io - that is the one, right?
USDD_io: Right.
David: Do need to mention that our team will be revamping the Guarda NFT functionality, so more formats and platforms are supported.
Exclusive Features and Future Plans
David: Now, getting back to USDD and its supported chains. What are the most important features that distinguish USDD from other stablecoins? And in what chain is USDD running now? And do you plan to add more chains in the future?
Believe it or not, these questions were submitted as one.
USDD_io: USDD has a clear edge over its competitors：
Decentralized: The USDD protocol aims to provide the blockchain industry with the most stable, decentralized, tamper-proof, and freeze-free stablecoin system, a perpetual system independent of any centralized entity.
Over-Collateralized: USDD is secured by over-collateralizing multiple mainstream digital assets (e.g., USDC, BTC, and USDT). The total value of collateralized assets is significantly higher than that of USDD in circulation, with the collateral ratio set at 130%, far exceeding the 120% required for DAI.
Chain-Agnostic: USDD circulates on TRON, Ethereum, BSC, and other networks via the cross-chain protocol BitTorrent Chain. Similar to TRC20-USDT, it caters to users’ needs by offering them a fast and affordable experience on TRON.
Since it launched on May 5, USDD has been circulating on TRON, Ethereum, and BNB Chain. The total supply of USDD has surpassed 800 million. It’s also live on numerous popular platforms, including SUN.io, Uniswap, PancakeSwap, Curve, Ellipsis, KyberSwap, Poloniex, Huobi Global, KuCoin, Gate.io, Bybit, Bitget, Lbank, Bibox, BTSE, BitMart.
I also want to thank the TRON DAO Reserve whitelisted institution multichain with the BitTorrent Chain for building USDD multichain architecture. They work hard with rapid progress and strengthen collaboration to the point where USDD can migrate across BitTorrentChain arbitrarily, Ethereum, Fantom, Avalanche, BNB Chain, Arbitrum, and Optimism.
As USDD is partnering with major exchanges and wallets through the BTTC cross-chain protocol, blockchain institutions are welcome to support the USDD issued on TRON, Ethereum, and BNB Chain.
About our plan, short-term, the TRON DAO Reserve will denominate more liquid trading pairs in DeFi and CeFi against USDD. In DeFi, we plan to ensure all heavily traded on-chain assets have high USDD-denominated liquidity on AMMs.
In CeFi, we have partnered with several centralized exchanges, including Huobi, KuCoin, Poloniex, Bybit, and many others, to offer rebates to customers who trade asset pairs against USDD. Our aim is for USDD trading pairs to have more liquidity than USDT or USDC on both centralized and decentralized exchanges.
David: This might as well be one of the most informative AMA sessions I have ever seen. And it’s a good thing. Next topic: gamers.
The gap between traditional gamers and blockchain gamers is still huge. How can USDD bridge this to attract more traditional players to try new blockchain-based games? Also, what’s your plan to expand the adoption of your project to conventional gamers? Asking for a friend, I am sure.
USDD_io: Launched on May 5, USDD hit the spotlight in the market at the very beginning. It was initially allowed to circulate on TRON, BNB Chain, and Ethereum. Soon after that, many mainstream platforms such as SUN.io, Uniswap, PancakeSwap, Curve, Poloniex, Huobi, and KuCoin started mining activities for USDD. Relying on the endorsement of the TRON DAO Reserve, USDD provides an ultra-high APY of 30%, which results in a wave of USDD mining frenzy on major platforms.
TRON’s DeFi army, led by USDD, has become a welcoming, warm breeze in the freezing DeFi winter triggered by the bear market.
As I said, the emergence of USDD injects strong vitality into the TRON network, adding more liquidity to the ecosystem and therefore contributing to the prosperity of TRON.
As a world-leading blockchain with a flourishing ecosystem, TRON has been committed to expanding in the DeFi, NFT, GameFi, stablecoin, metaverse, and cross-chain solutions for years. And USDD will substantially boost TRON’s ecosystem, helping it hit one milestone after another.
USDD is also part of TRON’s GameFi plan. TRON will release three new games this year, including a soccer game to celebrate the World Cup 2022. By then, we will witness how USDD connects soccer fans worldwide together.
USDD Liquidity Mining
David: I am intrigued. You got me at soccer. Next up: liquidity mining program.
Is the USDD liquidity mining program still going to happen?
If yes, what are the main challenges for it to start?
USDD_io: It is good to use Guarda Wallet to participate in GameFi and enjoy GameFi.
In terms of USDD product progress, I will introduce 2 aspects.
In USDD mining, I would like to remind users of the intelligent boost mining on SUN.io. It is easy to access for all users, from beginners in crypto to more advanced holders, and with low-risk, high-gain dynamic.
SUN.io’s intelligent boost mining pool has clear advantages, the longer you stake, the higher the boost factor you enjoy, and the more benefits you gain. So everyone can enjoy the high APY now on SUN.io:
For those who prefer to use the TRON-based decentralized lending platform JustLend, it is available to supply USDD and earn flexible, profitable gains with risk-free APY. https://justlend.org/?lang=en-US#/hom
Go through USDD’s official website:https://usdd.io/#/ to query the latest APY of USDD mining, choose the high APY pool, and click to participate in USDD mining at any time.
In USDD swap, TRON DAO Reserve has officially launched a stablecoin swap tool: PSM (Peg Stability Module). Users can swap between USDD and USDT or USDC at a 1:1 ratio. Unlike regular swap platforms, PSM offers a more stable and competitive price with no slippage and zero fees. As I described above, PSM is the latest monetary policy tool launched by the TRON DAO Reserve. PSM helps keep the USDD peg close to $1 U.S. dollar during times when USDD demand outstrips USDD supply.
The PSM mechanism perfectly combines the USDD issuance mechanism and introduces a new issuance method for USDD. With the newly introduced PSM, the process of USDD SWAP is the process of USDD issuing via the fixed ratio collateralizing. All PSM users actually participate in the issuance of USDD.
Everyone is welcome to participate in PSM. You can find the PSM portal from:
David: You came prepared. AMA done right is what I call this level of preparation.
USDD_io: Use the Guarda Wallet to link to the TRON network and access PSM.
Down the road, USDD will go live on more major exchanges worldwide, and we are open to collaborating with you. USDD will surely increase the industry’s influence and make finance accessible to everyone.
Challenge accepted. Elizabeth (Business Development Specialist at Guarda) and I will have to connect with the USDD team.
USDD Security
David: The next question is about something our team cares a lot about. The security of assets. Lately, most projects in the crypto space are characterized by serious security issues. What steps have been taken to ensure that security is not an issue here?
USDD_io: As I mentioned before, first, USDD is built on the TRON blockchain. Second, as a decentralized, over-collateralized stablecoin, USDD offers a chart-topping collateral ratio. This ratio reflects the reserve size backing USDD and is, therefore, most indicative of its security. The 130% collateral ratio plus USDD’s commitment to security since day one have been the keys for USDD to steadily go mainstream and attract more users in the financial world.
David: And USDD is fully decentralized, right?
USDD_io: USDD adopts a completely decentralized architecture. The USDD protocol is dedicated to providing the blockchain industry with the most stable, decentralized, tamper-proof, and freeze-free stablecoin system, a perpetual system independent from any centralized entity. As we all know, the TRON network achieved complete decentralization and became the world’s largest decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) in December 2021. As a major move of TRON to deliver the mission of decentralization, USDD was born with security and transparency.
MORE ON THE USDD STORY AND DESIGN
David: I was actually taking notes. As a copywriter, I care about branding. And the next question is: Could you please tell us the story behind the name USDD?
USDD_io: USDD - Decentralized USD, as a spearhead of the Stablecoin 3.0 Era, USDD is upgrading into the world’s first decentralized, over-collateralized stablecoin. So, what is over-collateralization? Crypto-collateralized stablecoins need excess collateral and a liquidation mechanism because they are backed by assets whose prices can be volatile.
David: And the collateral ratio is?
USDD_io: The collateral ratio of USDD is accessible in real-time on its website (http://usdd.io). It guarantees a collateral ratio of over 130%. That means for each USDD in existence, there is at least $1.3 worth of collateral locked away. This figure is even higher than the 120% set by DAI, which is considered a paragon of the industry. It is the highest in the world.
To support the over-collateralization of USDD, the TRON DAO Reserve, also known as the TDR, has significantly increased its reserves to back USDD’s total supply. The reserves consist of some of the most liquid assets, such as BTC, TRX, and USDT. All of these have made USDD the safest decentralized stablecoin in the world.
David: Again, impressive results. Shall we talk about user experience? User experience is a very important issue in most projects. Does your project focus on this? What have you done to bring the best user experience, especially to new users?
USDD_io: USDD is over-collateralized by multiple mainstream digital assets (e.g., TRX, BTC, USDT, and USDC). The total value of the collateral is 130% of USDD in circulation, far exceeding the 120% required for DAI. This means that each USDD is supported by over $1.3 as the highly liquid collateral.
In addition, being chain-agnostic, USDD circulates on TRON, Ethereum, BSC, and other networks via the cross-chain protocol BitTorrent Chain. In the future, it is expected to run on more major public chains. The increased user base and adoption also point to stronger consensus, which is a cornerstone for USDD to maintain stability and become a measure of value.
Choosing a secure wallet such as the Guarda wallet is important for new users.
David: Again, I have no choice but to agree. Guarda is non-custodial, secure, and reliable. I understand that this might be quite a bit of information to process all at once, but there will be a transcript available.
We talked about the ecosystem, NFTs, and even games. If my memory serves, there was a question about GameFi somewhere. Oh, here it is. How do you imagine USDD can contribute to GameFi?
USDD_io: Solid strength is a must if one wants a larger market share and a higher adoption rate. As I mentioned above, USDD is a practice of full decentralization and a child that has inherited every strong point of TRON’s Stablecoin 2.0 era. It has built its collateral factor up to the world’s No.1 after upgrading to an over-collateralized stablecoin. These attributes have prepared it for broader adoption.
USDD Partnerships and Geo-Expansion
David: Partnerships are important as well, right?
USDD_io: But today, good wine also needs bushes. Good products and services have to rely on various marketing channels to reach a wider audience, and TRON’s blockchain provides such social network resources for USDD. TRON has been working closely with globally popular public chains and projects for years, which explains why USDD supported TRON, BNB Chain, and Ethereum upon its launch and will partner with more chains and blockchain-based projects to spread decentralization to every corner of the world.
David: I did hear that The TRON Grand Hackathon Season 3 is happening.
USDD_io: The TRON Grand Hackathon Season 3 is also in full swing. As one of the most significant events for global blockchain developers, the hackathon has gathered top-level blockchain organizations, projects, and tech experts, who will also be the evangelists of USDD to help add more use cases in DeFi, GameFi, NFT, and Web3 to this stablecoin. They can be a big boost to USDD’s adoption and market size.
David: Excellent. We have one more question to cover, and I will open the floor to comments. Here we go, USDD and different markets. Can you share the niche, target, and broader market that USDD aims to reach? What does the USDD tram think about the crypto market in Asia?
USDD_io: We want USDD to be the new settlement currency of crypto. To enable this, we will focus on liquidity while ensuring that USDD has ample reserves.
David: Curious to learn more about the crypto market in Asia for sure.
USDD_io: To help drive a utilitarian adoption of USDD, the TRON DAO Reserve plans to focus efforts on developing a utility for USDD across the crypto market. Short-term, TDR will denominate more liquid trading pairs against USDD in DeFi and CeFi.
In the long term, USDD as the settlement currency for crypto and is secured by the over-collateralization of multiple mainstream digital assets, which complements existing fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies as means of transaction and store of value. And USDD has immense potential for adoption and applications. We will continue to focus on business use cases in the field of cryptocurrency. We will soon see increasing users adopting USDD as an online payment medium, which greatly reduces transaction fees. As the world becomes more decentralized, we will see USDD being integrated with more dApps thanks to its solid tokenomics, making it accessible with far-reaching implications for both the blockchain space and the real economy. We’ll keep strengthening the USDD ecosystem to create an increasingly decentralized future for users far and wide.
USDD_io: Plus, Travala.com, an online travel platform, now supports payments in USDD. Welcome to book hotels & participate in activities with USDD.
David: Travala, we’re friends with them as well. Don’t forget to use GUARDA5 to get 5 percent off. The offer is valid until October 31st.
USDD_io: Also, USDD has been granted statutory status as an authorized digital currency and medium of exchange in the commonwealth of Dominica, effective on October 7th, 2022.
David: We are one step closer to crypto adoption, aren’t we?
USDD_io: Thank you.
Thanks to Guarda Wallet, our excellent partner, and thanks to all friends from the community who participated in this AMA. I hope everyone can use the Guarda wallet to participate in USDD activities, and let us build the best decentralized stablecoin USDD together!
David: It has been a pleasure speaking to you @usdd_io and actually learning something new. Thank you for asking questions on Twitter and showing up today.
I would also like to thank my colleagues here at Guarda (Margaret, Yixi, and Julia).
USDD_io: I hope USDD and guarda wallet further collaborate to bring a great stablecoin experience to global users. Welcome to safely store, send, receive, and exchange USDD on Desktop and Mobile versions of the Guarda Wallet.
David: Sounds like a plan.
Thank you again. And I will see you next time.
