1. USDx Users & What they Care About

Knowing what you want from the platform will help you contextualise risk. Find out which category of user you fit into, and adjust how you use the platform accordingly.

Broadly speaking, there are four primary users of USDx. How you use loaned USDx will depend on the type of user you are. In order of rising complexity, those users are:

1. USDx Trader

2. USDx Leverage Trader

3. USDx Yield Speculator

4. USDx Arbitrageur

Things all users care about:

1. Platform Safety: ALL defi products (platforms, tokens, wallet, etc) carry tech risk. USDx has minimised platform/tech risks by:

   1. Undergoing extensive auditing by industry leading experts.

   2. Long and thorough testing process, considering many edge cases.

   3. Using a battle tested and proven baseline codebase for loan/liquidation logic.

With that said, let's talk about the user type specific considerations.

USDx Trader

These users use USDx as a store of value, and simply swap in and out of it. They don't take part in the loaning process, they simply enjoy the benefits of USDx as a stable unit of account and store of value.

They care about:

1. Liquidity Depth: Check DEX information providers (eg, dexscreener), or LP info providers like parsec or revert.finance

2. Peg stability: Check price history for average time to peg reversion

3. Protocol solvency: Check `Aggregate Health Ratio` on https://ouroboros.foundation/usdx#/system-stats. If this figure is greater than 100%, it means that every USDx is backed by at least $1 of collateral ✅

USDx Leverage/Loan Trader

These users use the loan facility in USDx to mint USDx, and then use that USDx to purchase other assets to make amplified gains.

They care about:

1. Everything a USDx Trader cares about

2. Their Loan Liquidation Level: Check https://ouroboros.foundation/usdx#/usdx-minter `Liq Price` figure, but be aware that if Global Health on the same page falls below the `Critical Collateral Ratio(CCR)`, then this liquidation price may rise.

3. Buying USDx Below $1 for Discounted Loan Repayments: All debt in USDx is denominated in USDx, regardless of what the actual price of USDx is. In other words, if you have outstanding debt of 10,000 USDx, but USDx is trading for 50c, then you can buy 10,000 USDx for 5,000 USD, and repay your debt at a 50% discount in 'real value' terms.

4. Redemption Pressure/Their Ordering in the Redemption Queue: When USDx price drops below $1, other users may buy USDx below $1, and exchange it for collateral worth $1. This ensures USDx maintains a $1 peg. When redemptions occur, they happen on the loan with the lowest health for the target asset. This is done to ensure that the most 'risky' loans are the ones closed first. For now, to get an idea of how far down the list your loan is, use the liquidation page loan table to get an idea of how much debt exists in front of your position. https://ouroboros.foundation/usdx#/liquidations

USDx Yield Speculator

This user will mint or buy USDx primarily to access yield opportunities within the ecosystem. The following sources of yield will be available at launch:

1. LP Rewards in TitanFarms

2. Backstop Pool ORX inflationary rewards (if activated)

3. Backstop Pool liquidation rewards (if compounding)

They care about:

1. Everything a USDx Trader cares about

2. Maybe everything a USDx Leverage/Loan Trader cares about (if they loaned and care about collateral exposure being maintained). This is a 'maybe', because the yield chaser may have simply bought the USDx on the market.

3. Sustainability of Yield

4. Reward Rebalancing: If participating in the Backstop Pool, liquidation rewards may need to be converted into USDx in order to top-up your USDx Backstop Pool deposits, or added as collateral to the user's open loan (if present) to allow more debt to be taken in its place.

USDx Arbitrageur

This user takes advantage of pricing discrepancies between USDx and $1, and the liquidation reward discounts enjoyed by USDx Backstop Pool depositors. Some actions they perform:

1. Buying USDx under $1 to redeem

2. Having USDx in the liquidation pool for receiving discounted collateral

3. Having collateral ready to mint USDx and sell it down if it goes above $1

They care about:

1. Everything a USDx Trader cares about: But with the caveat that they may care about those things less so, as they typically hold USDx for shorter durations of time on average.

2. Market volatility: Greater volatility creates more arbitrage opportunities.

3. Gas and Fee Structure Cost: Greater costs of operations mean less margin for profit.

Next Up

As we push through the remainder of the explainer articles, keep in mind what type of user (or combo of users) you are likely to be. Doing so will help you hone your understanding of the mechanics which are related directly to you.