Overview
USDA is a digital US dollar that lives on the Cardano blockchain. You can hold it in a wallet, send it across borders, swap it on Cardano apps, or cash it out to a regular bank account. One USDA is meant to always be worth one US dollar because dollars and dollar equivalents, such as US government treasuries, sit in reserve to back every token in circulation1.
USDA has an unusual three-party setup. Anzens Inc., a US-registered financial firm, is the legal issuer and runs the minting portal. EMURGO, one of the original organizations that built Cardano, provides the technology that creates and tracks USDA on the blockchain2. Encryptus, a crypto payments company with a European license and VASP status in Lithuania, took over the USDA launch in 2024, and its payout network converts USDA to local currencies in more than 80 countries3.
Key Features
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One dollar in, one USDA out. Every USDA token is backed by dollars and dollar equivalents, such as US government treasuries, held in reserve1. BitGo Trust Company, a regulated firm that safeguards assets for clients, holds the reserves in accounts kept separate from Anzens company funds, so customer money is not mixed with business money2.
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Native to Cardano. USDA is built directly on Cardano rather than copied over from another blockchain through a bridge. Any Cardano wallet that supports native assets can hold it4, and its circulating supply is shown on a public Cardano explorer5.
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US-regulated issuer. Anzens is registered with FinCEN, the US agency that oversees money-transmission businesses, as a Money Service Business4. US state regulators have also issued No Objection Letters to Anzens1.
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International payouts through Encryptus. Encryptus operates under DMCC, a business free zone in Dubai, and offers crypto-to-fiat conversion through a payments network built with banks in the receiving countries6.
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Cash out in local currency. The Anzens platform connects to bank wires and mobile wallets in dozens of countries, so users can cash out USDA into local currency1,7.
What to Expect
The Anzens website offers sign-in and a sign-up flow for individual and business accounts. To mint or redeem USDA directly, you complete identity verification first: KYC checks for individuals (a standard identity review used by banks) and KYB checks for companies. Once approved, customers in eligible US states can convert dollars into USDA or back through the portal4.
If you already hold ADA or other Cardano tokens, you do not need an Anzens account to use USDA. You can swap into USDA on Minswap, a Cardano DEX, using a Cardano wallet that holds a small amount of ADA for fees8. Public Cardano explorers show USDA as an active native asset with a circulating supply that rises and falls as tokens are minted and redeemed5.
