USDai

USDai is a US dollar-pegged stablecoin issued through the USD.AI protocol. It serves as the non-yield-bearing base asset within USD.AI and is designed to maintain a 1:1 value with the US dollar. USDai is backed by PYUSD, PayPal's dollar-denominated stablecoin, rather than by the GPU-backed loans originated through USD.AI.

USD.AI separates its stablecoin and lending exposure into two tokens. USDai represents the liquid stablecoin layer while sUSDai is obtained by staking USDai and represents exposure to yield generated from the protocol's reserves and GPU-backed lending activities. Holding USDai does not by itself give a holder exposure to GPU loans or the associated lending yield.

USD.AI is a credit protocol that connects capital providers with operators seeking financing for GPUs and other AI computing infrastructure. Borrowers receive loans secured by qualifying hardware and related cash flows while depositors can access the lending side of the system through sUSDai.

New USDai can only be created when corresponding backing is deposited. Direct smart-contract minting and redemption is restricted to KYC-verified institutions and authorised market makers under its whitelisted market model. USDai itself remains transferable between wallets and can be traded or used through supported decentralised and centralised markets without those minting permissions.

USDai acts as the main dollar-denominated asset for entering and leaving the USD.AI depositor system. Users can hold or transfer the token, trade it through supported markets or use it within decentralised finance applications.

Its main protocol-specific use is staking. A holder can deposit USDai into the USD.AI staking system to receive sUSDai. Unlike USDai, sUSDai is yield-bearing: its value relative to USDai changes as income from GPU-backed loans and reserve assets accrues to the sUSDai vault.

This distinction separates USDai's role as a stable medium of exchange from the credit risk associated with the protocol's lending activities. USDai itself has no direct exposure to GPU depreciation, hardware performance or loans originated through the protocol, with those exposures instead associated with sUSDai.

USDai can also be used as a settlement asset within the wider USD.AI system, including payments connected with GPU purchases, equipment loans and other data-centre expenses.

USDai and the USD.AI protocol were developed by Permian Labs, a Delaware-based company that provides technical and operational services to the protocol.

Permian Labs was co-founded by David Choi, its CEO, and Conor Moore, its COO.

The protocol is governed through the USD.AI Foundation, a Cayman Islands Foundation Company. The Foundation holds the protocol's intellectual property and oversees governance while Permian Labs acts as its technical and operational service provider.