USDG0
USDG0 is a regulated, omnichain stablecoin launched in November 2025 as a collaboration between Paxos Labs and LayerZero. It functions as a cross-chain extension of the existing Paxos-issued stablecoin Global Dollar (USDG), and is designed to be pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar. The stablecoin utilizes LayerZero's technology to operate as a single, native asset across multiple blockchain networks, aiming to provide compliant, fully-backed U.S. dollar liquidity to the decentralized finance (DeFi) space without the fragmentation associated with wrapped tokens. [1] [2] [3]
Overview
USDG0 was developed to address the challenge of fragmented liquidity in the multi-chain DeFi ecosystem. Traditionally, moving a stablecoin from its native blockchain to another requires creating a "wrapped" version, which is a synthetic representation of the original asset. This process can introduce security risks through bridges and results in separate, non-interchangeable pools of liquidity on each chain. USDG0 aims to solve this by creating a single, fungible version of a regulated U.S. dollar stablecoin that can be transferred and used natively across different blockchains. [1] [4]
The project is the result of a partnership that combines the regulatory and financial infrastructure of Paxos with the interoperability protocol of LayerZero. The stated goal is to merge the compliance and trust of regulated financial products with the composability and innovation of DeFi. Paxos described the initiative as demonstrating "how regulated infrastructure meets the composability of DeFi and how trusted money becomes truly borderless.” [1] The core value proposition is to provide developers and users in various blockchain ecosystems with access to a consistent, compliant, and economically-aligned dollar asset. This enables protocols to embed trusted liquidity directly into their applications and participate in the economics of the stablecoin layer. [2]
History and Launch
Paxos Labs and LayerZero announced the launch of USDG0 on or around November 18, 2025. [5] [3] The initiative was led by Paxos Labs, a startup launched by the regulated financial institution Paxos earlier in 2025. [5] The launch was intended to accelerate the adoption of the parent stablecoin, Global Dollar (USDG), by extending its reach into ecosystems where it was not natively issued.
At the time of launch, key figures from the collaborating entities highlighted their shared vision. Bhau Kotecha, co-founder of Paxos Labs, described USDG0 as "the next evolution of stablecoin infrastructure where trust, interoperability, and user experience converge," with the ultimate goal of making "trusted and transparent digital dollars truly borderless." [3] Similarly, LayerZero CEO Bryan Pellegrino stated that the technology allows users to "transfer digital dollars rapidly and without slippage, effectively transforming the digital movement of money at internet scale." [3] Ronak Daya, Head of Product at Paxos, further explained that "by extending USDG's reach through Paxos Labs and LayerZero, we’re giving every ecosystem the ability to embed trusted, economically-aligned stablecoin liquidity." [5]
Technology and Mechanism
The functionality of USDG0 is underpinned by LayerZero's cross-chain messaging protocol and token standard. This technology allows for the creation and transfer of a single version of the asset across multiple otherwise incompatible blockchains.
Core Technology
USDG0 is built using LayerZero's Omnichain Fungible Token (OFT) standard, sometimes referred to as the Omni-Fi Token standard. [1] [2] The OFT standard enables developers to issue tokens that are natively multi-chain, meaning the token contract on one chain is aware of its counterparts on other chains. This allows for seamless transfers between networks without the need for traditional bridging, which typically involves locking the original asset and minting a separate, wrapped version. [4]
Bridging and Supply Management
USDG0 operates on a lock-and-mint and burn-and-mint model to ensure its supply is always fully backed by the underlying USDG stablecoin. The process works as follows:
- Initial Bridging: To move value to a new chain, a user locks native USDG in a secure, audited smart contract on a chain where it is natively issued (such as Ethereum). [5]
- Minting USDG0: Once the native USDG is locked, the LayerZero protocol facilitates the minting of an equivalent amount of USDG0 on the destination blockchain. [3]
- Cross-Chain Transfers: When a user wishes to move USDG0 from one non-native chain to another, the OFT standard triggers a burn of the tokens on the source chain and a corresponding mint of the same amount on the destination chain.
This mechanism ensures that the total circulating supply of USDG0 across all blockchains never exceeds the amount of native USDG held in reserve in the locking contracts. This maintains the direct 1:1 backing and regulatory integrity of the asset regardless of which chain it resides on. [5] [3]
Key Features and Advantages
The technical architecture of USDG0 provides several key advantages over traditional wrapped or bridged assets:
- Unified Liquidity: By creating a single, fungible asset across multiple chains, USDG0 avoids liquidity fragmentation, which can improve capital efficiency and user experience in DeFi. [1]
- Slippage-Free Transfers: Because transfers are managed through a mint-and-burn mechanism rather than relying on liquidity pools, users can move large amounts of USDG0 between chains without experiencing price slippage. [3]
- Efficiency: Transfer speeds are primarily limited by the block finality of the source chain. The cost is also independent of the transaction size, as it only requires payment for gas fees on the source chain. A LayerZero spokesperson noted that transferring "one million USDG0 can be sent across chains for the same price... as sending 1 USDG0." [3]
- Regulatory Consistency: The native, non-wrapped design ensures that the same regulatory protections and backing that apply to the parent USDG stablecoin are inherited by USDG0 on all supported blockchains. [1]
Ecosystem and Adoption
At its launch, USDG0 was deployed on several blockchains and integrated with DeFi platforms to demonstrate its utility.
Initial Deployment
The initial rollout of USDG0 targeted three distinct blockchain ecosystems:
The deployments on Plume and Aptos were notable for being Move-based implementations, contrasting with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility that dominates the stablecoin market. [2]
Use Cases
The initial partners were chosen to highlight specific use cases for a cross-chain regulated stablecoin:
- On Hyperliquid, a decentralized perpetuals exchange, USDG0 was intended for use in yield-aligned trading and to support the creation of new lending markets. [1]
- On Plume and Aptos, USDG0 was positioned to serve as a foundational asset for modular DeFi, enable tokenized yields, and provide enterprise-grade stablecoin infrastructure. [1]