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Briefing

Usual Protocol has successfully closed a $10 million Series A funding round, led by Binance Labs and Kraken Ventures, marking a significant capital injection that reinforces its position within the stablecoin vertical. This financing event underscores the market’s recognition of Usual’s innovative approach, which blends the stability of fiat-backed assets with the composability inherent to decentralized finance. The protocol has already achieved over $1.4 billion in Total Value Locked (TVL), demonstrating substantial traction and a clear path toward its objective of becoming a top-tier stablecoin project.

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Context

Prior to Usual Protocol’s emergence, the stablecoin landscape often presented a dichotomy. Centralized fiat-backed stablecoins offered stability but lacked the decentralized ethos and composability crucial for deep DeFi integration. Algorithmic stablecoins, while innovative, frequently grappled with scalability and peg stability challenges. A prevailing product gap existed for a fiat-backed stablecoin that could achieve hypergrowth, integrate seamlessly with DeFi primitives, and prioritize community ownership, moving beyond mere yield generation to establish robust real-world financial bridges.

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Analysis

This Series A funding empowers Usual Protocol to deepen its impact on the application layer by enhancing its core stablecoin infrastructure and expanding its integration with Real-World Assets (RWAs). The protocol fundamentally alters digital ownership models by committing 90% of its token allocation to the community, fostering a user-centric governance participation. This strategy creates a powerful flywheel effect ∞ increased user participation drives liquidity, which in turn enhances the stablecoin’s utility and market depth.

Competing protocols face a new benchmark for combining RWA security with genuine decentralization and user incentives. Usual’s embrace of alternative collateral structures, such as M^0 for its USD0 stablecoin, further demonstrates its commitment to architectural flexibility and resilience.

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Parameters

  • Funding Round ∞ $10 Million Series A
  • Lead Investors ∞ Binance Labs, Kraken Ventures
  • Total Value Locked (TVL) ∞ Over $1.4 Billion
  • Core ProductDecentralized Fiat-Backed Stablecoin (USD0)
  • Community Allocation ∞ 90% of token supply
  • Blockchain Ecosystem ∞ Ethereum (fastest-growing stablecoin on Ethereum)
  • Strategic Integrations ∞ Ethena, Securitize (BlackRock BUIDL tokenizer), M^0

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Outlook

The successful Series A positions Usual Protocol for significant expansion, particularly in bridging DeFi with traditional finance (CeFi) and RWA tokenization. The protocol’s community-first approach and robust RWA integrations establish a strong competitive moat. This innovation has the potential to become a foundational building block for other dApps seeking stable, composable, and user-governed financial primitives. Competitors will likely attempt to replicate its hybrid model of RWA-backed stability and decentralized governance, underscoring the strategic importance of its early market leadership.

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Verdict

Usual Protocol’s Series A funding validates a critical product-market fit for RWA-backed, community-governed stablecoins, establishing a new paradigm for capital efficiency and user empowerment within the decentralized application layer.

Signal Acquired from ∞ MEXC Global

Glossary

decentralized finance

Definition ∞ Decentralized finance, often abbreviated as DeFi, is a system of financial services built on blockchain technology that operates without central intermediaries.

fiat-backed stablecoin

The SEC's lawsuit dismissal against Binance, coinciding with a Trump-affiliated stablecoin listing, signals evolving U.

application layer

Solana introduces modular, L1-integrated network extensions, providing bespoke execution environments that enhance specialization without fragmenting core liquidity.

stablecoin

Definition ∞ A stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable value relative to a specific asset, such as a fiat currency or a commodity.

million series

An exploited third-party API allowed attackers to manipulate staking requests, resulting in a significant capital drain from the SOL Earn program.

kraken ventures

Kraken's new perpetual futures platform enhances market access and refines risk management protocols for broader participant engagement.

total value locked

This research establishes a universal, game-theoretic definition for Maximal Extractable Value, fundamentally reframing economic attacks within public blockchains for systematic mitigation.

decentralized

Definition ∞ Decentralized describes a system or organization that is not controlled by a single central authority.

stability

Definition ∞ Stability, in the context of digital assets, refers to the relative consistency of an asset's price or a system's operational predictability.

capital efficiency

Definition ∞ Capital efficiency refers to the optimal utilization of financial resources to generate the greatest possible return.