Glossary

A reference for terms you’ll encounter when using ParyonUSD.

Protocol terms#

PUSD (ParyonUSD): the stablecoin issued by the ParyonUSD protocol, designed to maintain a value of $1. PUSD is a CashToken on Bitcoin Cash.

Collateral: BCH deposited into a smart contract to back a loan. Collateral is locked until the loan is repaid or liquidated.

Collateral ratio: the ratio of your collateral’s value to your borrowed amount. Must stay above 110% to avoid liquidation. A 150% ratio means your collateral is worth 1.5x your debt.

Loan-to-Value (LTV): the inverse of the collateral ratio, expressed as a percentage. An LTV of 60% means you’ve borrowed 60% of your collateral’s value. Maximum LTV is ~90.9% (corresponding to the 110% minimum collateral ratio).

Liquidation: the forced loss of a loan’s collateral when its collateral ratio falls below 110%. The Stability Pool’s PUSD is used to repay the debt, and the pool receives the collateral. The borrower keeps their PUSD but permanently loses their BCH.

Liquidation price: the BCH price at which a loan’s collateral ratio hits 110% and becomes eligible for liquidation. Calculated as: Borrowed PUSD / Collateral BCH × 1.1.

Redemption: the exchange of PUSD for BCH collateral at face value, minus a 0.5% penalty. Redemptions target loans with the lowest interest rates first. This mechanism maintains the $1 peg.

Interest rate: the annual percentage rate (APR) a borrower pays on their loan. Rates are chosen by borrowers and range from 0% to 119.6%. Higher rates cost more but provide better protection against redemptions.

Managed rate: an interest rate mode where the protocol’s interest manager automatically adjusts your rate based on a chosen risk strategy (low, medium, or high). Can be switched to manual at any time.

Manual rate: an interest rate mode where you set a fixed rate and adjust it yourself. Gives full control but requires active management.

Stability Pool terms#

Stability Pool: the smart contract where PUSD is staked. The pool serves two purposes: earning yield for stakers and providing PUSD to cover liquidations.

Epoch: a time period of approximately 10 days. Epochs determine when staking payouts are distributed and when stakes can be withdrawn.

Period: a time period of approximately 1 day (144 blocks). Interest is collected from loans each period.

Staking receipt: an NFT (CashToken) that represents your stake in the Stability Pool. It tracks your position, payout history, and lock status.

Payout: BCH earned by stakers during an epoch, available for claiming after the epoch ends. Payouts come from borrower interest (70% share) and liquidation profits.

APY (Annual Percentage Yield): the estimated annualized return on staking, based on the previous epoch’s earnings. Not fixed or guaranteed.

Technical terms#

CashTokens: the native token system on Bitcoin Cash. PUSD, loan keys, and staking receipts are all CashTokens. CashTokens enable negligible fees, true ownership, and no blacklisting.

Loan key: an NFT that represents ownership of a loan. Whoever holds the loan key can manage the loan (repay, add/withdraw collateral, change interest rate).

Oracle: the on-chain price feed that provides the BCH/USD exchange rate. ParyonUSD uses the General Protocols price oracle, which updates approximately every 10 minutes.

WalletConnect: the protocol used to connect your wallet to the ParyonUSD app. Your wallet signs transactions locally; the app never has access to your private keys.

CashScript: the smart contract language used to write ParyonUSD’s on-chain logic. CashScript contracts compile to Bitcoin Cash Script and run directly on the blockchain.

BCMR (Bitcoin Cash Metadata Registry): the metadata standard that gives CashTokens human-readable names, descriptions, and icons in wallets.