TerraUSD is a stablecoin that launched in 2020. It is decentralized, scalable, yield-bearing, and interchain compatible. As such, it can be used on many ecosystems and apps. In particular, it is famous for its predominantly infinitely scalable monetary policy. With a surging demand in stablecoins, it was clear that most of them are not genuinely scalable. Therefore, TerraUSD was created in part to challenge stablecoin market leader DAI.

Terra, the company behind TerraUSD, was created by Do Kwon and Daniel Shin in April 2019, and it forms a part of Terraform Labs. On September 12, 2020, the company released TerraUSD on Bittrex Global. Terra is TerraUSD’s native blockchain.

What are USTC key features and how does it work?

Terra incorporates a few simple protocols and policies to achieve TerraUSD’s fundamental features. They include scalability, yield-bearing, and interchain capabilities. TerraUSD also makes use of of pre-existing technology and innovations with the aim of providing users with the best possible experience.

TerraUSD is an algorithmic stablecoin, which means the cost of minting is equal to the face value of the minted stablecoins. It uses LUNC, Terra’s native cryptocurrency, as a reserve asset. In other words, if you want to mint one TerraUSD, only $1 worth of Terra’s LUNC token is burned out of the system.

What is noteworthy about TerraUSD?

A unique feature of TerraUSD is that it allows the linking and enabling of blockchain ecosystems. This is through a bridging protocol called Dropship. Essentially, Dropship allows integration of TerraUSD into various DeFi platforms, as well as enabling it to be moved from blockchain to blockchain. As such, this protocol helps to guarantee scalability. Mining the token requires validators on the Terra Network to stake LUNC. These validators will serve as oracles for the dollar price of LUNC. In return, they earn small quantities of tokens from USTC transactions.

What can USTC be used for?

Since TerraUSD promises high scalability, interest-bearing, and interchain usage, it has many potential use cases. DeFi protocols can use the coin without losing scalability, as USTC can fulfill high demands due to its unique minting mechanism. A dynamic area where USTC has excited Terra’s users is yield or interest-bearing. Anchor’s interest or profit on the Terra platform depends on block rewards in USTC from PoS chains existing in the PoS space. This interchain operability is supported by a novel bridging protocol Dropship, allowing UST to easily move between blockchains.

It can also be used in dApps. For example, Mirror protocol, a platform that allows the minting of fungible “synthetic assets” that track the prices of real-life assets in the present time, uses USTC as a bare asset. Lastly, USTC can also be integrated as a payment option with e-wallets such as Chai and MemePay.

Historical events:

The new Terra chain without an algorithmic stablecoin was launched on May 27. The old chain will be called Terra Classic (token: $LUNC) with the stablecoin USTC, and the new chain will be called Terra (token: $LUNA). More details: https://twitter.com/terra_money/status/1529451631263174656