Overview

For Investors

UPD: a permissionless stablecoin with built-in yield, post-quantum privacy, and a path to consumer finance

The Pitch

UPD is a permissionless, self-minted, overcollateralized stablecoin on Ethereum. No admin keys. No blacklists. No counterparty risk.

It does three things no other stablecoin does simultaneously:

  1. Non-freezable — no entity can freeze or censor your balance
  2. Yield-generating — 8-10% APY for holders via sUPD, 20-35% APY for stabilizers
  3. Post-quantum private — the Universal Private Pool shields transactions with STARK proofs that survive quantum computers, while maintaining compliance

How UPD Works

Users convert ETH into UPD at a 1:1 USD peg. The conversion creates a long ETH position that backs the stablecoin. UPD is overcollateralized — every dollar of UPD has more than a dollar of collateral behind it.

The protocol has no governance tokens, no multisigs, no admin functions. Once deployed, it runs.

The Yield Engine: Stabilizers

Stabilizers are the overcollateralization layer. Anyone can become a stabilizer — it's permissionless and first-come-first-serve.

How It Works

When a user mints UPD by depositing ETH, the stabilizer receives the long side of the trade for free. The stabilizer then opens a short hedge (perpetual futures), creating a delta-neutral position.

ComponentValue
Long side (from user deposits)Free
Short side (funding fee income)~8% annualized (current bear market average)
Leverage3x (UPD requires only 25% overcollateralization)
Net stabilizer yield20-35% APY

The math is simple: the long side costs nothing, and on the short side, longs pay shorts via funding fees — averaging ~8% annualized in the current bear market. With 3x leverage, that spread is amplified. In bull markets, funding rates climb even higher as more longs enter the market, pushing stabilizer yields up further. Occasionally funding flips negative (shorts pay longs), but on average the direction is clear: shorts collect.

Permissionless Inc

Permissionless Inc intends to mint a founding stabilizer at launch. Collateral assignment is sequential — early stabilizers are naturally first in queue.

sUPD: Yield for Everyone

Stabilizer revenue flows back to the protocol. Stake UPD into sUPD and earn 8-10% APY — passive yield on a stablecoin, like a savings account that actually pays.

TokenPurposeYield
UPDStable, non-yielding, 1:1 USD peg0%
sUPDYield-bearing vault token8-10% APY

No lockups. No vesting. Instant redemption. sUPD is a standard ERC-4626 vault — fully composable with DeFi.


Three Stages

Stage 1 — UPD Stablecoin (GTM-Ready)

The stablecoin has been through a limited beta. Every lesson was applied to the final design:

  • Yield-loopable — sUPD can be used as collateral in lending protocols, creating recursive yield strategies
  • DeFi-composable — standard ERC-20 + ERC-4626, works with Uniswap, Aave, Morpho, and every major protocol
  • Security-hardened — simplified attack surface, tested edge cases, production-grade contracts

UPD is ready for go-to-market. The stablecoin is the foundation — everything else builds on top.

Stage 2 — Post-Quantum Private Pool (Active Development)

The Universal Private Pool (UPP) brings bank-like privacy to on-chain finance — secured against both current and future threats. Shield any ERC-20 token, transfer privately, unshield when needed.

  • Post-quantum from day one — we built the first native Circle STARK verifier on Ethereum L1. No elliptic curves. No trusted setup. Hash-based security (Keccak-256) that survives quantum computers. Every other privacy protocol on Ethereum today relies on cryptography that quantum computers will break.
  • Compliance built in — Association Set Providers (ASPs) maintain allowlists. Every withdrawal proves compliant origin without revealing which address.
  • Ragequit guarantee — original depositors can always withdraw their own funds, regardless of ASP status. User funds are never trapped.

A live tech demo runs on Sepolia at preview.upd.io, showcasing the simplicity of shielded transfers.

For the deep technical details: Circle STARK Verifier | From SNARKs to STARKs

Stage 3 — Consumer Finance

A credit card and bank account tied to sUPD. Regular consumers get:

  • A stablecoin savings account earning 8-10% APY
  • A debit/credit card for everyday spending
  • Post-quantum privacy controls — choose what's visible, what's not

This is the end game: unstoppable, quantum-resistant finance that regular people can actually use.


Market Opportunity

MetricSize
Stablecoin market cap$150B+ and growing
DeFi TVL (fully transparent)$200B+ — every holder is a potential privacy user
Institutional demandCited as #1 barrier to on-chain adoption
Addressable tokensEvery ERC-20 on Ethereum

UPP is protocol-agnostic — any token can use the privacy pool. The TAM grows with the ecosystem, not against it.

The Post-Quantum Privacy Moat

Every privacy protocol deployed on Ethereum today — Tornado Cash, RAILGUN, Aztec, Privacy Pools — relies on elliptic curve cryptography (BN254) that quantum computers will break. Every proof and encrypted key published on-chain is a permanent record waiting to be decrypted. State actors are already storing this data ("harvest now, decrypt later").

UPP is the only privacy protocol building with post-quantum security from the ground up. We built a native Circle STARK verifier in Solidity — ~1,900 lines across 7 libraries, 72 tests passing, ~20M gas verification. STARKs rely only on Keccak-256 hash functions. No pairings, no DLP assumption, no trusted setup. This is deep cryptographic engineering that creates a meaningful first-mover advantage — and a moat that widens as quantum timelines compress.

ProjectPrivacyCompliancePost-QuantumL1 VerificationStatus
UPPYesASP layerSTARKNative SolidityDemo (Sepolia)
Tornado CashYesNoneNo (SNARK)L1Sanctioned
RAILGUNYesPPOI (limited)No (SNARK)L1Production
AztecYesConfigurableNo (SNARK)L2 onlyTestnet
Privacy PoolsYesASP (similar)No (SNARK)L1Research

UPP is the only project combining compliance, post-quantum privacy, and L1 native verification.


Why Now

Regulatory tailwinds. MiCA (EU) and Travel Rule implementations create a legal framework where compliant privacy is explicitly viable. The barrier that blocked privacy protocols for years has been removed.

Quantum timeline is compressing. The JVG algorithm (March 2026) demonstrated RSA-2048 factoring with ~8,200 qubits. NIST is mandating post-quantum migration for federal systems. The organizations that build PQ-secure systems now will be the infrastructure providers.

Stablecoin demand is accelerating. Tether alone processes more daily volume than Visa. The market wants a non-freezable, yield-generating alternative with real privacy — and it doesn't exist yet.

Post-quantum first-mover advantage is defensible. Building a native Circle STARK verifier requires deep cryptographic expertise across field arithmetic, Circle FRI, DEEP quotients, and Fiat-Shamir transcript replay. This isn't a feature that can be trivially replicated. Every month that passes with competitors still on SNARKs is another month of on-chain data that will be retrospectively deanonymizable.


Key Numbers

MetricValue
sUPD target APY8-10%
Stabilizer yield range20-35% APY
Overcollateralization requirement25%
Post-quantum STARK verification~20M gas
STARK proof generation~2ms (client-side)
Solidity verifier~1,900 lines, 72 tests
Post-quantum securityHash-based (Keccak-256), no elliptic curves
Stage 1 (Stablecoin)GTM-ready
Stage 2 (Privacy pool)Active development, demo live
Stage 3 (Consumer card)Planned

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