EXCLUSIVE: Usual, Pierre Person's stablecoin project

Where on earth has Pierre Person gone? Since he's no longer at the National Assembly, many are wondering what the former French MP known for bringing several emblematic laws on cryptos is up to. In particular, it was he who worked on the Pacte law passed in 2019 (Optional Visa for ICOs).

According to our information, the 35-year-old former MP has by no means left the sector, quite the contrary. He has been working for over a year on a decentralised dollar stablecoin project, the USD0.

The USD0, which will be launched on Ethereum, will be issued by the Usual company, of which Pierre Person is chief executive. The stablecoin is due to be launched in 2024. A euro version could be launched after 2025.

Usual is based in France, and there is already a team of around ten people including crypto entrepreneur, Adli Takkal Bataille, and former co-founder of payment app Pumpkin, Hugo Sallé de Chou.

The USD0 will be backed by Real World Assets with a 1:1 reserve. In other words, each USD0 issued will be matched by one dollar in the form of, among other things, US Treasury bonds.

A competitor for the industry giants?

According to several interviewees, the aim of the USD0, which will have its governance token ($Usual), is not to compete with other decentralised stablecoins such as Maker's DAI, but to attack the hegemony of centralised stablecoins such as USDT and USDC.

"The aim is to offer a stablecoin that is more economically attractive to users," explains a person close to the project. Tether, which is the issuer of USDT - the largest stablecoin on the planet (95 billion in capitalisation) - generated 6.2 billion in profits in 2023 thanks to returns on the reserve invested largely in US Treasury bonds.

Usual's governance token, the $Usual, is intended to enable the community brought together in a DAO to recoup the profits generated by the USD0.

According to our information, Usual is in the process of closing a seed round. The funding is being raised in equity and Usual tokens. Several major players in the crypto industry, including market makers, are among the investors. GSR is said to be one of them.