Dear investors and friends,
Between November and December, we successfully closed the Seed round of Usual - and we are thrilled to have you on board. We’re now well surrounded to make this year an exciting one, full and ambition and fast-paced execution.
We selected you from among other investors because we believe that, in addition to your valuable investment, each and every one of you can contribute and make a difference. Each and every one of you can play a role in the success of the protocol as we strive to become the leading stablecoin.
We will keep you updated monthly through this newsletter, sharing our progress, challenges, and requests.
Furthermore, please feel free to reach out to us privately (via Telegram or email).
STAGED LAUNCH
Our desire is to have a pre-launch phase as explosive as Blast campaign, triggering FOMO for thousands of liquidity providers. This phase would be structured around several moments:
Private phase (2 weeks before Pre-Launch)
This liquidity will be secured by our Sales team before the launch of the pre-launch phase.
The arrival of negotiated liquidity before the launch with as much cash as possible coming from you (our investors) + crypto hedge funds. Ideally $100M.
This liquidity will be onboarded during a 2-week phase called the "Private Phase," which will allow us to launch the protocol with a minimum Total Value Locked (TVL) ; and also ramp-up the liquidity for early contributors who have reserved their slot to ensure their place in the bonus mechanism.
Public phase (start at the Pre-launch and during 4 months)
The relay is carried out by the DAOs and KOLs who then continue to promote and spread the protocol.
Last, retail investors who would be attracted, creating an organic growth for the system.
Usual needs to make a strong impact during the launch and create momentum, which enables the system to initiate the flywheel and continue to grow.
Pre-launch Features
Major design of the pre-launch phase
Bonus reward according to TVL and time
Principle: be the first to mint usUSD and boost your bonus as the TVL is growing
Users are rewarded with extra $USUAL (usDAO new name) (in locked form) that is vested after the launch based on the time deposited in v1, how many people deposited before them, and how much TVL they deposit.
Referral system
Principle: Standard referral mechanism where the referrer and referral share a portion of the rewards.
The system should be an external tool.
Social Airdrop
We have a % of minted usDAO that can be used for an airdrop. We would like to tease this possibility without revealing the details, in order to have flexibility in the future. This can be done post launch or even later.
The combination of these 3 mechanisms complements each other in order to enable the explosiveness of the whole system: (i) the bonus requires early participation in the process and taking advantage of the growth of the TVL ; (ii) the referral system engages everyone in the ability to bring in new capital ; (iii) the social airdrop allows everyone, regardless of financial capacity, to also benefit from rewards and continue to contribute to the growth of Usual.
→ Please find here our pre-launch summary: https://docsend.com/view/ud847u8fwm926qi7 (password: usual&prelaunch)
REQUESTS
🔥🔥 We need to figure out with each of you if and how you could participate in the TLV ramp-up at pre-launch. Please book a 15-30 minutes call with us to discuss it. Please book via this link.
🔥🔥 We need intros to as much hedge funds, asset managers, family offices, DAO treasuries, whales and KOLs as possible. If you know anyone (even with a weak relationship) — glad to set-up an outreach message with you. We currently have 1200 records in the CRM, we keep scaling it.
MISCELLANEOUS
TECH
This week, we initiated a series of three smart contract audits. The first audit is with Bailsec at a discounted rate, the second audit is with Cantina (Spearbit) as a managed review, and the third audit, also with Cantina, will be conducted as a competition.
MARKETING
We have hired the marketing agency HYPE to assist us in preparing for the prelaunch. They are known for their strong reputation, extensive network, and ability to leverage it, as well as their creativity. Additionally, we will be working with M Group for PR during the launch.
SALES
We hired a new Head of Sales, Andrew Lafortezza (based is NYC). With his team (two additional sales), they target to secure between $50M and $80M before the pre-launch in direct approach. Their annual target is $450M in direct sales.