USDai

USDai is a yield-bearing synthetic dollar whose backing comes from loans secured against artificial intelligence hardware, compute equipment, and DePIN infrastructure assets. It differs from conventional stablecoins in that its collateral is physical, income-generating equipment rather than cash, treasuries, or crypto assets.

How USDai works

Capital deposited into the protocol is lent against hardware such as GPUs and other compute infrastructure used by operators who generate revenue from that equipment. The loans amortise as the borrower repays, and the interest paid flows back to the protocol. The project describes the resulting exposure as functioning like a high-yield bond index tied to productive infrastructure. Separate mechanisms exist to let arbitrageurs bring the token back to its dollar reference when it deviates, which is the standard approach for synthetic dollar designs that do not offer direct one to one fiat redemption to all holders.

There is no fixed maximum supply. Tokens are created as capital enters the system, with roughly 174 million currently outstanding. The token is deployed across the Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, and Plasma ecosystems according to its categorisation.

Role in the ecosystem

USDai sits at the intersection of the synthetic dollar and real-world asset categories. Its risk profile is materially different from a fiat-backed stablecoin: the yield reflects credit risk on hardware-secured lending and the residual value of equipment that depreciates over time. That is a genuine business model, but it is a lending product rather than a cash equivalent, and the distinction is important for anyone evaluating it against dollar-pegged tokens backed by short-term government debt.