The Polkadot (DOT) ecosystem is advancing the RFC-155 proposal to launch pUSD, a native stablecoin backed solely by DOT tokens, with the goal of reducing reliance on external stablecoins like USDT and USDC and boosting decentralized finance (DeFi) activity. The proposal has garnered 75.4% community approval and requires 85.6% to pass, indicating strong support for enhancing ecosystem autonomy and liquidity.
pUSD will be an over-collateralized stablecoin deployed on the Polkadot Asset Hub, utilizing the Honzon protocol stack previously associated with Acala's failed aUSD project. This has raised concerns within the community, as the aUSD incident in 2022 eroded trust due to mismanagement and inadequate user compensation. One community member expressed frustration, stating, "Acala's stablecoin launch was a complete disaster... I don't see myself supporting their project anymore." Critics argue that pUSD should operate independently from the Acala team and call for clearer governance by the Technical Council to avoid repeating past mistakes.
Despite skepticism, proponents highlight pUSD's potential to unlock DeFi growth by allowing users to borrow against locked DOT without selling, thereby increasing liquidity. Data from DeFi Llama shows Polkadot has less than $100 million in stablecoin liquidity, lagging behind chains like Ethereum and Solana. If approved, pUSD could be integrated into the Polkadot Treasury for payments and eventually replace DOT inflation for staking rewards, promoting more sustainable network economics. Polkadot co-founder Gavin Wood endorsed the initiative, calling it "strategically essential" to prevent "haemorrhaging benefits, liquidity, and/or security." However, risks remain, including the potential for liquidation cascades due to single-collateral backing by DOT, which has a capped supply of 2.1 billion tokens, and competition from alternative solutions like HOLLAR.
BTC
SOL
XRP
MIM