Currency that's stable in real space
"Stablecoins are greate but they also suffer from inflation. Having a medium of exchange that doesn't suffer from inflation is an important update to the financial system."
"We are in a world where money as we know it is in jeopardy...We are printing too much, and its not just the United States... a best option for digital currency is a token linked to inflation"
About USDi
Founding Story
In the wake of a discussion regarding cryptocurrencies and the difficulties of converting
BTC into
USD, the natural topic turned to stablecoins and how they have become the intermediary of
choice for that
role.
Mike asked, as would be expected given his life's work on inflation, if there was a
stablecoin that
was "stable in real space", thus tracking inflation. A quick search of the crypto universe
showed that
there were several coins that made an attempt to do this, but their success ratio was
approaching zero.
Either they were algorithmic coins that failed, or they were unable to effectively track
inflation in a
meaningful and low volatility manner.
Thus was born the idea to create a coin, USDi, which would rely on Mike's expertise and
success in
managing inflation risks, to accurately and effectively track CPI inflation as there
appeared to be an
opening in the market for such a product. This was made evident by comments from people like
Brian Armstrong
and Ray Dalio.
USDi is the culmination of this idea and we are excited to be able to bring this important
product
to life to help the entire crypto community maintain the purchasing power of their onchain
assets.
Why USDi?
Hedge Against Inflation
Unlike traditional stablecoins that lose value over time, USDi maintains purchasing power by automatically adjusting to inflation rates.
Passive Protection
Holders don't need to actively invest in inflation-hedging assets. USDi provides automatic protection against purchasing power erosion.
Versatile Store of Value
USDi is ideal for both savings and transactions, offering a more stable alternative to traditional fiat-backed stablecoins.
Decentralized Alternative
USDi provides a blockchain-native solution to inflation protection, offering an alternative to government-issued inflation-protected bonds.
DeFi Integration
Seamlessly integrate USDi into decentralized finance protocols, enabling innovative financial strategies with built-in inflation protection.
Global Accessibility
Available worldwide, USDi offers a borderless solution to preserve wealth and provide financial stability across different economic environments.
Features
USDi is the first stablecoin backed by real world assets and designed to be a medium of exchange not subject to inflation.
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Backed by Realworld Assets
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USDi is backed by real world assets, including treasury bonds, and other inflation hedging assets.
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Transparent 3rd Party Audits
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USDi is audited by a third party to ensure that the coin is backed by real world assets.
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Crypto Native
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USDi is a crypto native coin, meaning it runs faster and is more secure than other inflation hedging investments.
Founding Team
Our team brings together decades of expertise in financial markets, technology, and cryptocurrency, united by a mission to revolutionize monetary systems through innovative blockchain solutions.
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Michael Ashton
Founder / CIO
Mr. Ashton is a pioneer in the U.S. inflation derivatives market. Prior to founding Enduring Investments, Mr. Ashton worked for several large investment banks (including Deutsche Bank, Bankers Trust, J.P. Morgan, Natixis, and Barclays Capital) as a relative value strategist and as an options and inflation trader. Since 2003, when he traded the first interbank U.S. CPI swaps, and 2004 when he invented and was the lead market maker for the CME's CPI Futures contract, he has played an integral role in developing new instruments and methods for accessing and hedging various inflation exposures.
Widely known by his trademarked moniker "the Inflation Guy™," Mr. Ashton is a frequent industry speaker and lecturer on inflation topics as well as an architect of inflation indexed products for hedging real exposures. He is the author of "Cents and Sensibility: The Inflation Guy Podcast," thousands of blog posts and articles, and two books. -
Andrew Fately
Co-Founder / Managing Partner
Known as the FX Poet, Andrew is a veteran of more than 40 years in the foreign exchange markets, trading spot, forwards and options as well as running both sales and trading businesses for major US and international commercial and investment banks (including Chase Manhattan, Lehman Brothers, Barclays Capital and Royal Bank of Canada). In addition, he has spent time as the Chief Strategist of a FinTech company, developing the first, and only, viable method to enable same-day, real-time transactions in the FX markets which are historically unfunded markets. This product was developed on an ERC-20 token and was shown to be effective and accurate in testing with major financial institutions.
He has taught classes at King's College on "Cryptocurrency and Money, Explaining the Difference," as well as published two papers on Central Bank Digital Currencies and the Future of Money, extrapolating from current economic and financial needs as well as the development of cryptographic technology to outline several possible futures. -
Roger Ramia
Co-Founder / Technical Lead
With a robust 25-year career in information technology, Roger Ramia has excelled across diverse roles ranging from hands-on software development and architecture to high-level executive management. His academic credentials include a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems from George Mason University and a Master of Business Administration from Johns Hopkins University's Carey School of Business.
After earning his Bachelor's degree, Mr. Ramia embarked on a career developing military software applications at Booz Allen Hamilton, concurrently pursuing an MBA in Finance. In 2007, he transitioned to Citadel Investment Group in Chicago, diving deep into the FinTech sector. At Citadel, he developed sophisticated software platforms including an alpha capture system that navigated complex economic challenges during the financial crisis of 2008.
By 2010, Mr. Ramia joined Driven, Inc., a pioneering legal technology start-up, where he led the development and launch of Driven One™, a groundbreaking eDiscovery platform. By 2015, the company secured a patent for its innovative machine learning-based distributed data processing system, with Mr. Ramia as a key co-author. After the platform's successful launch and the company's strategic recapitalization Mr. Ramia pivoted to independent consulting, dedicating his expertise to exploring the transformative potential of blockchain technology.
Since 2017, Mr. Ramia has been a strategic technical advisor to numerous blockchain ventures, addressing the complexities of this nascent industry.
Frequently asked questions
What makes a stablecoin stable?
Bitcoin is decentralized, automatic, and the rules are stable. But it, and most 'fiat' cryptocurrencies, have value only because other people believe it has value and as a consequence it has no natural stability. There is no intrinsic value to a fiat currency – digital, or analog – which means that they are stable only when looked at in a self-referential frame. A US Dollar has a stable value of $1 but is volatile from the viewpoint of a Mexican-peso-based observer. Because these fiat cryptos are unstable when looked at by a participant in the analog world, the concept of 'stablecoin' was developed. A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency whose value is pegged to another asset, such as the US Dollar, to maintain a stable price.
By pegging the value to an existing currency, a stablecoin 'borrows' the characteristics of that currency as a store of value and unit of account. A true stablecoin maintains its stability by means of holding reserves and being fully convertible on demand into the underlying currency.
How does USDi hold reserves?
When a USDi coin is minted, the money received from the minting is invested in the USDi Coin Fund. The Coin Fund, in turn, invests in a portfolio managed by Enduring Investments that is designed to track monthly changes in the US Consumer Price Index. The portfolio holds, on an unlevered basis, a low-volatility mix consisting mostly of US Treasuries, inflation-linked bonds, foreign exchange, various commodities futures and options, and cash. Historically, this portfolio has had an annualized volatility of just over 2%. For comparison, in 2023 the S&P 500 had a volatility of about 13%, the S&P GSCI commodity index had a volatility of 16%, and even 5-year government Treasuries had a volatility around 6%. The portfolio in which the USDi Coin Fund is invested had, for the three years ended in December 2024, a correlation with monthly inflation of 46%. The objective of the fund is to keep up with inflation so that USDi is always fully backed by the assets of the USDi Coin Fund.
Who validates the value of the assets backing USDi?
The value of the USDi Coin Fund is calculated each time a USDi Coin is minted or burned, by a respected independent Administrator (Trident Fund Services Inc). Monthly, the official value of the USDi Coin Fund as determined by Trident will be reported on this website. Annually, the USDi Coin Fund will be audited by Spicer Jeffries LLP, a top-10 fund auditor, and the audit report posted on this website.
How do I buy (or sell) USDi?
Most buyers and sellers of USDi will do so through an exchange from market makers who establish the bid and offer. Institutions and investors who wish to mint or burn large amounts of USDi (>$10mm USD value of USDi) can transact directly with USDi Partners after passing KYC and AML checks.
How does USDi's price change with inflation?
Inflation data are released on a monthly cadence. The USDi Coin turns this into a daily inflation adjustment by interpolating between the values of the Not Seasonally Adjusted Consumer Price Index from three months and two months ago to create Reference CPI figure (This is the same mechanism used for TIPS bonds, which is explained in more detail here). The Reference CPI is compared to the value of the Reference CPI on March 1st, 2025, to get the value of the USDi.
For illustration: the value of the Reference CPI on March 1st, 2025 was 315.605, and the value of the Reference CPI on April 1st, 2025, was 317.671. (The US Treasury Department calculates the Reference CPIs as well and you can find them here). Someone who bought the USDi Coin on March 1st, 2025 would have paid $1.000000, which is 315.605/315.605; if that person sold USDi on April 1st, the USDi price would be 317.671/315.605 or $1.00655. So the price level rose 0.655%, and the USDi Coin rose by exactly that amount.
Because the Reference CPI is lagged three months, and because the USDi Coin is based on the Reference CPI of March 1st, 2025, the USDi Coin's price effectively represents the increasing value of a December 2024 dollar.
Does USDi pay interest?
USDi does not pay any interest. The price increase over time is simply compensation for the loss of the purchasing power of a dollar over time. Different taxing authorities, however, may regard this increase in price as interest, rather than capital appreciation: consult a competent tax professional to see how this increase in value affects your tax liability. It is our strongly-held view that being taxed on inflation adjustment, when the real value of an investment hasn't risen, is inappropriate and if we were rewriting the tax code we would decrease all investment gains by the change in USDi over the holding period. As of this writing, however, we have not been asked to rewrite the tax code.
Because USDi is a coin, it may be possible to earn staking returns on top of the inflation adjustment by depositing USDi with a staking service.
How is USDi's inflation protection different from what TIPS provide?
USDi and TIPS use the same mechanism to adjust the principal value of your investment. However, because TIPS mature in the future their value is also exposed to market price fluctuations beyond the inflation adjustment. For example, a 1% increase in the yield of a 10-year TIPS bond will cause its price to decrease by approximately 8.8% because the 10-year TIPS bond has a duration of nearly 9 years. Accordingly, when inflation increases rapidly TIPS often do lose value since while the inflation adjustment accelerates slightly the market price will decline by more. An investor who holds a TIPS to maturity will receive the inflation-adjusted principal at maturity, so a 10-year TIPS bond is a good hedge for 10-year inflation outcomes even though shorter-term fluctuations will affect its resale value.
A USDi Coin has a 'maturity' every day. Consequently, in contrast to TIPS a USDi Coin has no interest rate risk.
Will there be any additional functionality to USDi in the future?
The developers of the USDi Coin expect that once the coin has sufficient float and seasoning, functionality will be added to make the coin splittable into different subcomponents that add up to the Consumer Price Index. So, for example, a holder of USDi could present the coin and receive back sub-coins approximately as follows: 36% Rent of Shelter, 7% Energy, 14% Food, 1% College Tuition, 8% Medical Care, and 34% Other Core Goods and Services. Each of these coins would trade separately, so that each investor could buy or sell the pieces that they prefer. Someone saving for college could accumulate the College Tuition coins, for example. Each of the coins' underlying value would increase using a similar mechanism to that of the main coin – the Medical Care coin would increase with Medical Care CPI, for example – but would have prices that reflect relative supply and demand for each subcomponent. Because the sub-coins could be collected proportionally and 'unsplit' back into USDi, we expect that while some coins may trade at a premium and some coins may trade at a discount, the full basket should track close to USDi.
There may be multiple different options for the splitting of USDi. Stay tuned for this development.
Contact Us
Email us directly at info@usdicoin.com