What Is Usual and How to Earn Pills for the USUAL Airdrop

Guide to Earning Pills for the USUAL Airdrop

You can earn Pills (Usual's pre-launch point system), by contributing liquidity to the Usual protocol. You can earn Pills by holding USD0++, and also by interacting with partner protocols and referring others.

Key Takeaways

• Usual Labs is a decentralized protocol that is introducing USD0, a stablecoin that is derived from aggregating real-world assets from various entities. 

• The protocol was founded by Usual Labs, a French firm that successfully raised $7 million and received $75 million commitment in total value locked (TVL) from more than a hundred investors.

• Ahead of the USUAL token launch, users can interact with the Usual platform and earn Pills by performing various activities.

Usual is a decentralized protocol focused on bridging traditional finance with decentralized finance by tokenizing real-world assets (RWAs). This process introduces opportunities to enhance liquidity and accessibility by introducing tangible assets such as real estate, commodities, and financial instruments into the blockchain ecosystem. Usual does this by aggregating various US Treasury Bill tokens from institutions such as BlackRock, Ondo, M0, Mountain Protocol, and Hashnote to be then transformed into a permissionless and on-chain verifiable stablecoin known as USD0. 

By connecting RWAs with DeFi ecosystems, Usual is able to further enhance the liquidity of traditionally illiquid assets and make them more accessible to a bigger pool of investors. Fueling the Usual team’s mission is the observation that while RWAs are growing, their integration into DeFi remains a challenge. According to the team, there are less than 5,000 holders of RWA on the mainnet despite the introduction of new products including on-chain US Treasury Bills.

Usual’s goal is to provide an alternative to other fiat-backed stablecoins that redistributes value more equitably among users. The protocol is introducing a model that is essentially rebuilding Tether fully on-chain by letting holders of the Usual governance token make decisions such as risk policies and liquidity incentive strategies. As a result of redistributing 100% of the value and control through its governance token, members of the Usual community become owners of the infrastructure, treasury, and governance.

Other fiat-backed stablecoins are partly collateralized by reserves held in commercial banks, exposing the assets to the fractional reserve practices of these banks. Usual offers a collateralization model that is directly tied to very short-term bonds that is reinforced by a strict risk policy and an insurance fund. While some models redistribute a portion of generated yields, Usual allows users to pool the generated yield which then forms Usual’s treasury. In return, users receive governance tokens. 

Usual Labs, the French firm behind Usual, was founded by Pierre Person, Hugo Salle de Chou, and Adli Takkal Bataille who currently hold the positions of Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and Design Executive Officer respectively. In April 2024, Usual Labs successfully raised $7 million and received $75 million commitment in total value locked (TVL) from more than a hundred investors. The round was co-led by IOSG Ventures and Kraken Ventures while receiving participation from industry players Mantle, Bing Ventures, Kima Ventures, X Ventures, and more. Usual is also backed by over 150 investors including Michael Egorov, founder of Curve, Sam, founder of Frax, and Charlie from DefiLlama and Curve.

In anticipation of the launch of the governance token, USUAL, the RWA stablecoin protocol is now running the Usual Pills campaign. By participating in various activities, users can earn pre-launch points, or Pills, to determine the amount of USUAL tokens they will receive during the airdrop. The team has allocated 7.5% of the USUAL total supply at the token generation event (TGE). The Pills program is meant to reward users who contribute liquidity during the bootstrapping phase of the Usual protocol. The pre-launch period is set to end in mid-November while the airdrop is scheduled for Q4 2024. Given this timeline and the opportunity to earn Pills, now is a great time to explore the Usual protocol!

Do note that we have listed many of the steps below as optional because it requires users to deploy significant capital across various platforms. By following steps 2 and 4, users can still earn Pills. We will disclose the number of Pills that users can earn through each step below so that you can select which, if any, of the optional steps you would like to participate in.

Step 1: Connect Wallet

Go to https://app.usual.money/ and enter your early access invite code. If you don’t already have friends on Usual, you can go through their official X page or join their official Discord and Telegram channels to see codes that other users are sharing. 

You can access these here:

Usual X: https://x.com/usualmoney 

Usual Discord: https://discord.gg/tempusual 

Usual Telegram: https://t.me/UsualCommunity 

Once you have entered the code, proceed to Connect Wallet. In this guide we are using MetaMask. 

You will also need to accept the Terms and Privacy Policy. 

After that, follow Usual’s X account. 

Step 2: Issue and Hold USD0++

After you Enter Usual, you have the options of obtaining USD0, buying USD0++ or providing USD0 as liquidity on Curve, or minting USD0++. However, we will skip these steps and show you how to do so within the Usual platform.

Enter Usual and proceed to Mint USD0.

Choose from a selection of tokens and input your desired amount. We will be depositing 200 USDT to receive 199.89 USD0. Approve and Confirm the transaction. 

You can then Bond USD0 which redirects you to the Usual Desk.

Input the amount of USD0 you want to spend in return for USD0++. 

You will receive an instant Pills reward of 1 Pill per USD spent and earn 3 Pills per USD each day that you hold USD0++.

Step 3: Interact with Other Protocols (Optional)

Interacting with partner protocols will earn you between 1 to 3 Pills per USD daily depending on which activities you participate in. Some of the partner protocols might also have boost effects to increase your Pills reward.

In the left panel, head to Drugstore.

In the Drugstore, you will see all the available protocols and assets as well as your positions, annual percentage yield (APY), total value locked (TVL), daily Pills, and the total Pills earned.

For example, the first row is for USD0++ on Usual with our position being $100 giving us 3x Pills daily (per USD) and we have earned 500 Pills which is from the instant reward. 

Due to the high number of available protocols and assets, we will not be going through each one in this guide. However, we do encourage you to do some research into each one and determine your comfort level in participating. On top of occasionally having Pills boosts, interacting with some of these protocols, such as Ether.fi, can earn you points for their respective campaigns.

Do note that holding USD0++ on Usual will already earn you 3x Pills daily therefore participating in these protocols are optional as it requires more assets and capital. 

Step 4: Refer Others

In the left panel again, head over to Hall where you can see an overview of your assets, positions, and Pills.

Scroll down and on the right side you will find your referral code under Share to earn Pills. 

Share your code with friends and other community members to earn a 10% bonus of all your referee’s Pills. Additionally, you can earn 1% or 0.5% from friends of friends. 

If your referee refers User C, you receive 1% of User C’s Pills. If User C refers User D, you receive 0.5% of User D’s Pills. 

Conclusion

Usual is a decentralized platform that is focused on aggregating US Treasury Bill tokens from various institutions to provide users with more investment opportunities. This is done through its stablecoin USD0 and USD0++. In anticipation of the launch of Usual’s governance token, USUAL, users can participate in the Pills campaign to familiarize themselves with the platform.

Do note that airdrops are speculative, and always do your own research before committing your assets to any protocols or connecting your wallet.