Seventh Canto: The Age of Stablecoins

If USDT was the first gift, USDD was the second. In 2023, Justin Sun and his team announced USDD, a decentralized stablecoin backed by a combination of crypto collateral and market mechanisms. Unlike USDT, which was issued and controlled by Tether Limited, USDD would be native to TRON. It would be what blockchain advocates had always imagined: truly decentralized money.

Tether launched USDT on TRON in 2019, while retaining issuance on other networks. Costs and available resources influenced users’ choices. During Ethereum congestion, TRON offered another transfer route. Zeus found a place in daily commerce, though fees varied with usage and network rules.

In 2020, USDT usage on TRON was growing. Counting transfers, adding their value and measuring issued tokens were different tasks, each revealing one face of circulation. Zeus watched these signs without mistaking a lead in one measure for dominion over all others.

With USDD came a new wave of applications. Savings protocols allowed users to earn yield on stable assets. Insurance contracts protected against volatility. Leveraged trading became possible for the common user. What had been the exclusive domain of hedge funds and institutional investors became accessible to anyone with a smartphone and a TRON address.

By the end of 2023, TRON had become something more than a blockchain. It had become a financial operating system. One that was faster, cheaper, and more accessible than anything the traditional world could offer. The gods had built their infrastructure, but Zeus had given it to everyone.