USD.AI: A Decentralized Credit Protocol for AI Infrastructure

USD.AI is a blockchain-based credit protocol that originates non-recourse loans secured by physical GPU hardware and distributes the resulting yield to depositors through a tokenized instrument stack. The protocol runs on Arbitrum as its hub chain, with omnichain support for Base and Plasma via LayerZero.

The protocol has three native instruments: USDai, sUSDai, and CHIP. USDai is a synthetic dollar backed 1:1 by PYUSD, PayPal's regulated stablecoin, which is itself fully collateralized by U.S. Treasuries and cash equivalents. sUSDai is the yield-bearing counterpart to USDai, capturing yield through an ever-increasing exchange ratio.

The CHIP token serves as the governance token for the protocol, controlling core parameters such as collateral standards, interest rates, loan eligibility, fees, and smart contract upgrades or new integrations. It also controls which GPU hardware enters the protocol as eligible collateral and on what terms.