Proposal: USDtb as a USDe Backing Asset and Eligible Asset for the Reserve Fund

EthenaLabs_Research
Wed, 27 Nov 2024 17:27:23 +0000
General

Summary

This proposal requests Ethena’s Risk Committee to consider approving USDtb as a backing asset for USDe and as an eligible asset for the Reserve Fund, ahead of USDtb’s launch next week.

“USDtb” is a stablecoin created by Ethena Labs and backed by BlackRock’s BUIDL (BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund). USDtb will be launched in partnership with Securitize, the leading tokenizer of real-world assets, representing Ethena’s latest development in digital asset offerings.

Background & Structure

USDtb functions similarly to other stablecoins such as USDC or USDT in the open market, maintaining a stable value pegged to the US dollar. Users are able to transfer USDtb freely and without restriction. USDtb is able to scale without practical constraints given the use of Blackrock’s BUIDL as the backing asset.

The USDtb infrastructure is designed to be fully independent and bankruptcy remote from other business interests, including those of Ethena Labs and Ethena Protocol-related infrastructure. USDtb is issued by Pallas (BV) Ltd. (“Pallas”), a BVI business company with limited liability, and all reserve assets are legally and operationally owned by the Pallas structure. Pallas does not offer any other products.

The vast majority (90%) of USDtb’s reserve assets will be held in BUIDL for the foreseeable future. With the upcoming launch of USDtb, Ethena introduces a stablecoin product to the market that is initially backed ~90%+ by BlackRock’s BUIDL - the highest BUIDL allocation of any stablecoin issuer.

Any remaining reserves will be held in stablecoins to facilitate redemptions. To the extent the non-stablecoin reserves are held in assets other than BUIDL, they are expected to be tokenized U.S. treasury security products, and all issuers of reserve assets will be regulated, institutional issuers.

Smart contracts have already passed 3 full audits from leading auditors Pashov, Quantstamp, and Cyfrin in October with no high or medium level findings.

Proposal & Next Steps

Approval of USDtb as a backing asset for USDe and an eligible asset for the Reserve Fund, with the potential for allocation as a backing asset of USDe on Day 1 of USDtb’s launch next week.

6 posts - 6 participants