Introducing Citrea USD (ctUSD): The Native Stablecoin for Bitcoin, Issued by MoonPay and Powered by M0

In partnership with MoonPay and M0, Citrea is launching ctUSD to establish the native liquidity standard for the Bitcoin ecosystem and provide banking rails between on-chain Bitcoin collateral and off-chain fiat systems.

Today, we are introducing Citrea USD (ctUSD), the stablecoin designed to serve as the foundational liquidity layer for the Citrea platform.

ctUSD is a 1:1 U.S dollar-denominated stablecoin, fully backed by short-term U.S. Treasury bills and cash. Powered by M0, the universal stablecoin platform, ctUSD is issued by MoonPay, the global leader in crypto payments with a rigorous compliance framework built on the highest U.S. standards. This partnership ensures ctUSD is designed to align with the forthcoming GENIUS Act guidelines and an asset available to users in the U.S. (excluding NY) and over 160 countries worldwide (excluding Canada and the EEA).

M0 provides an open, interoperable platform that powers the creation of application-specific digital dollars like Citrea’s ctUSD. Its modular platform connects issuance, application logic, and liquidity into a single programmable system, giving builders control over how their digital dollars behave while relying on a shared foundation of transparency and interoperability.

Today, many emerging ecosystems suffer from fragmented and isolated stablecoin liquidity. This fragmentation traps capital on-chain and limits users’ ability to move seamlessly between decentralized applications and traditional financial applications. ctUSD establishes a unified economy for the Citrea ecosystem by reducing fragmentation and improving the connection between on-chain collateral and the off-chain fiat systems.

Liquidity Fragmentation Must Be Solved on Day Zero

The formation of stablecoin liquidity is one of the most critical stages of any project. The nature of this liquidity determines the health of the ecosystem, the users’ ability to deploy their capital, and the ultimate safety of the decentralized finance stack. 

When liquidity is split across multiple bridged versions of the same stablecoin, fragmentation emerges. Lenders struggle to find deep pools and traders suffer significant slippage, and capital becomes inefficient.  

Reliance on third-party bridges also introduces systemic risk. While a single bridge hack might only collapse one specific version of a stablecoin, the interconnected nature of DeFi means that a depeg in one major collateral asset can trigger a chain reaction of liquidations and insolvency across every lending market and DEX. The entire DeFi stack inherits the security risks of its weakest bridge.

By introducing ctUSD as a "Day Zero" integration, liquidity is aligned around a unified, and native standard.

ctUSD: Unified Liquidity for Bitcoin with MoonPay Rails

Citrea USD (ctUSD) aims to be the native stablecoin for the Bitcoin ecosystem, designed to serve as the foundational liquidity for Bitcoin applications and provide the easiest way to connect on-chain Bitcoin collateral with off-chain fiat systems.

ctUSD solves one of the most persistent challenges for Bitcoin and ecosystem development: worldwide access to native, compliant and unified stablecoin liquidity. 

ctUSD enables capital efficient on-chain markets for Bitcoin users and applications through: 

• Deep and Native Liquidity: Native issuance on Citrea helps ensure that ctUSD liquidity is safe from external bridge hacks and is designed to be 1:1 redeemable through a reserve of managed assets. These design considerations position ctUSD as a strong candidate to serve as the canonical stablecoin. ctUSD is built to be the preferred quote asset on DEXs and money markets. 
• Broad Distribution on Day 1: ctUSD taps into MoonPay’s network of 30 million+ verified users who can onboard instantly without re-completing KYC. It will also be available for instant buy/sell via Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal (subject to regional availability).

"Liquidity on Citrea is forming now. With a native, compliant standard immediately, the ecosystem won’t fragment into dozens of incompatible, risky bridged tokens, creating systemic risk before the ecosystem even matures." - Orkun Kilic, co-founder and CEO of Chainway Labs, the company building Citrea.

ctUSD Compliance Framework and Its Reserves

Issued by MoonPay, ctUSD aligns with the proposed implementation of GENIUS Act and is fully backed by short-term U.S. Treasury bills and cash. With U.S. money transmitter licensing and high compliance standards, MoonPay provides a compliance-forward stablecoin framework. 

To ensure a high level of consumer protection, all reserve assets are held for the benefit of token holders. Reserves are not treated as assets of MoonPay but are instead dedicated to fulfilling user redemptions. ctUSD backings are managed by MoonPay through a dynamic and transparent reserve architecture. 

“Open, interoperable platforms are the foundation for scalable stablecoin infrastructure,” said Luca Prosperi, CEO of M0. “ctUSD is an example of how M0’s open infrastructure enables partners to launch application-specific digital dollars quickly, with robust controls and the flexibility to expand across networks and integrations over time.”

MoonPay’s Regulatory Foundation:

• 49-State Access: Through its Money Transmitter Licenses (MTLs), ctUSD is accessible in every U.S. state excluding NY.
• Global Compliance Focus: MoonPay is approved by MiCA regulations in Europe and registered with the FCA in the UK, ensuring a compliance-oriented foundation and a path towards accessibility in those regions, in addition to the existing support in the U.S. and 160+ countries.

“Compliance is key to responsible scaling,” said Ivan Soto-Wright, co-founder and CEO of MoonPay. “Citrea applies that approach by aligning regulated issuance and global distribution from the start, creating safe and accessible ways for users to engage with the Bitcoin ecosystem.”

A Call for Developers: Build the Next Generation of Bitcoin Finance with ctUSD

Through MoonPay’s product suite, ctUSD comes with a banking grade API-first infrastructure for developers to build seamless experiences on Citrea.

ctUSD provides developers with a complete toolkit to build the next generation of Bitcoin finance:

• Virtual Accounts (vIBANs): ctUSD is fully supported by Iron (a MoonPay company), allowing developers to issue dedicated USD bank account numbers (ACH/Wires) for users. This enables seamless auto-ramping, where fiat sent via wire or ACH is automatically converted to ctUSD and settled on Citrea and the other way around. Iron handles identity verification, proof of address, and risk monitoring for both individuals and businesses.
• Cross-Chain and Merchant Ready: With Swaps.xyz powering non-custodial bridging and swaps from chains like Ethereum and Solana, and Helio enabling "Pay with ctUSD" cards for merchants, the infrastructure handles the heavy lifting of liquidity and commerce so you can focus on building.

If you are a developer looking to tap into deep, native liquidity and offer your users a seamless stablecoin experience, we want to work with you.

https://citrea.typeform.com/buildwithus 

What’s Next?

ctUSD is designed to create a liquidity flywheel for the Bitcoin ecosystem by aligning liquidity into a unified and native standard.  

Initially, users will be able to access ctUSD through:

• Using other stablecoins on Ethereum while bridging to Citrea
• Using DEX pools on Citrea
• Using MoonPay
• Direct minting support for large orders
  • Please reach out to us at info@citrea.xyz if you are interested in large orders.

We are committed to supporting the growth of Bitcoin, and ctUSD is a key part of that mission, delivering critical liquidity and accessibility for all users. 

More details soon! 

About Citrea:

Citrea is the Bitcoin application layer, enabling institutions and users to access Bitcoin capital markets. The platform aims to expand Bitcoin’s financial utility while remaining anchored to the network’s security model. Citrea is backed by investors including Founders Fund, Galaxy, Maven 11, Delphi Digital, Erik Voorhees, Balaji Srinivasan and more. 

For more information, please visit: Citrea website | Citrea X Account

About MoonPay:

Founded in 2019, MoonPay is a global financial technology company that helps businesses and consumers move value across fiat and digital assets. MoonPay has more than 30 million customers across 180 countries and supports more than 500 enterprise customers spanning crypto and fintech.

Through a single integration, MoonPay powers on- and off-ramps, trading, crypto payments, and stablecoin infrastructure, connecting traditional payment rails with blockchains. MoonPay maintains a broad regulatory footprint, including a New York BitLicense, a New York Limited Purpose Trust Charter, and money transmitter licenses across the United States, as well as MiCA authorization in the EU.

MoonPay is how the world moves value.

About M0: M0 is the universal stablecoin platform. With M0, developers can build safe, programmable and interoperable digital dollars. Learn more at m0.org