Neutrino USD (USDN)

Neutrino USD (USDN) is an algorithmic stablecoin issued by the Neutrino Protocol, a project built on top of the Waves blockchain. Rather than being backed by a reserve of fiat currency, USDN’s peg to the US dollar is maintained through a hybrid mechanism: users lock the WAVES token into Neutrino’s smart contracts to mint USDN, which can in turn be redeemed for WAVES at a 1:1 ratio. Price stability is reinforced by a reserve fund and by the Neutrino System Base Token (NSBT), which is issued and sold at a discount to recapitalize the system when the WAVES collateral falls short. USDN was originally issued natively on Waves and was later bridged to Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Polygon to widen its DeFi access.

USDN has suffered repeated de-pegging events since April 2022, when accusations of WAVES price manipulation to defend the peg triggered a collapse in confidence, and it has not durably returned to its one-dollar target since. The protocol has since rebranded its index token from USDN to Neutrino Index Token (XTN), described as an algorithmic, crypto-collateralized index token backed by a basket of Waves-ecosystem assets rather than a strict dollar-pegged stablecoin, and trading activity in the token has fallen to minimal levels.