Polkadot Takes Third Shot at Native Stablecoin with Staged Rollout

Polkadot is launching its third attempt at a native stablecoin, called dotUSD. This comes after Acala's aUSD collapse in 2022 and the stalled pUSD proposal in 2025.

The rollout of dotUSD is deliberately staged: first, $USDT-backed issuance will occur, followed by $DOT collateral vaults and liquidations in phase two.

Polkadot has allocated $5 million for the project, with half dedicated to minting reserves and the other half seeding a dotUSD pair on Asset Hub.

The network aims to avoid the same failure mode that killed its predecessor by deferring $DOT collateral until liquidity exists and the machinery has been tested.