> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.nara.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.nara.io/nara/quickstart.md).

# Welcome to Nara

Credit for the Digital Era.

### What is Nara?

Nara is a digital dollar protocol that finances short-duration payment flows and passes the financing premium to on-chain holders as yield. NaraUSD is a synthetic dollar backed by a portfolio of liquid reserves and short-duration payment-financing (PayFi) assets, and its value depends on the performance of that portfolio, its liquidity, and the controls around it.

<table><thead><tr><th width="148.30859375">Product</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>NaraUSD</td><td>The base synthetic digital dollar. Minted 1:1 against eligible stablecoins, designed to track $1.00, freely transferable and composable across DeFi. Senior to NaraUSD+ in the loss waterfall.</td></tr><tr><td>NaraUSD+</td><td>The staked, yield-bearing version of NaraUSD. Its exchange rate against NaraUSD rises as the PayFi portfolio pays.</td></tr></tbody></table>

### Where the yield comes from

Stablecoins settle in seconds, but the businesses that move them do not. Fiat collection, on/off-ramp conversion and local payout still take one to five days. That gap creates recurring, short-duration working-capital demand from payment service providers, remittance platforms and cross-border payment companies. Nara funds the gap on-chain, 24/7, and the interest borrowers pay for it accrues to NaraUSD+. See [How Nara generates yield](https://docs.nara.io/nara/quickstart/how-nara-generates-yield).

### What stands behind it

* **A diversified, short-duration book.** Backing is allocated between a liquid reserve and vetted payment-financing positions under written allocation ranges and concentration limits. The live book, every position and its weight are published on the [transparency dashboard](https://app.nara.io/transparency).
* **A team-funded first-loss fund.** The Nara team funded a $250,000 Insurance Fund from its own treasury for the first year of operation. It absorbs losses before any holder does, and it grows by 10% of all strategy yield. See [Insurance Fund](https://docs.nara.io/nara-protocol/insurance-fund).
* **Underwriting before capital moves.** Every position is scored on an 8-pillar, 42-criteria scorecard, screened through 7 knock-out gates, and approved unanimously by a three-member Investment Committee. See [Underwriting and Investment Committee](https://docs.nara.io/nara-protocol/underwriting-and-investment-committee).
* **Contract-enforced controls.** Every privileged action is signed 3-of-5 on hardware devices through a maker → reviewer → executor process. Reward issuance is capped on-chain, and the cap can move only through a hard-coded 2-day, vetoable timelock. See [Roles, Multisig and Timelocks](https://docs.nara.io/nara-protocol/roles-multisig-and-timelocks).
* **Proof over promises.** Supply, the vault exchange rate, the redemption queue and every admin action are public chain state. See [Transparency](https://docs.nara.io/nara-protocol/transparency).

### How it works in five steps

1. **Mint or buy.** Authorized Users (KYC/KYB verified) mint NaraUSD 1:1 against eligible stablecoins. Anyone else can acquire NaraUSD on supported secondary venues.
2. **Stake.** Convert NaraUSD to NaraUSD+ in one transaction. NaraUSD on its own earns nothing; yield accrues only to NaraUSD+.
3. **Earn.** The NaraUSD+ / NaraUSD exchange rate rises as the portfolio pays. There is nothing to claim.
4. **Unstake.** Request unstaking. After a 7-day cooldown, NaraUSD+ converts to NaraUSD at the prevailing exchange rate.
5. **Redeem or sell.** Authorized Users redeem NaraUSD for stablecoins: instantly if the request fits the liquid buffer, otherwise through a queue targeted within 7 days. Anyone can sell NaraUSD or NaraUSD+ on secondary venues at market price.

From NaraUSD+ to stablecoins through the primary route therefore takes up to 14 days (7 + 7). See [How Nara works](https://docs.nara.io/nara-protocol/how-nara-works).

### What you are holding

NaraUSD and NaraUSD+ are claims on a managed portfolio of payment-financing assets. They are not deposits and not insured. Returns are variable and depend on borrower demand, repayment, settlement timing, credit losses and the reserve mix. The Insurance Fund is finite and protocol-managed; it is not third-party insurance. Read [Risks](https://docs.nara.io/nara-protocol/risks) before holding, staking or integrating.

### Start here

| If you want to...                 | Read                                                                                                                                                   |
| --------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Understand the asset class        | [What is PayFi?](https://docs.nara.io/nara/quickstart/what-is-payfi)                                                                                   |
| See how the two tokens differ     | [NaraUSD](https://docs.nara.io/nara-protocol/narausd), [NaraUSD+](https://docs.nara.io/nara-protocol/narausd+)                                         |
| Check what backs the tokens today | [Portfolio and Allocation](https://docs.nara.io/nara-protocol/portfolio-allocation), [transparency dashboard](https://app.nara.io/transparency)        |
| Understand the first-loss layer   | [Insurance Fund](https://docs.nara.io/nara-protocol/insurance-fund), [Capital Protection](https://docs.nara.io/nara-protocol/risks/capital-protection) |
| Evaluate what can go wrong        | [Risks](https://docs.nara.io/nara-protocol/risks)                                                                                                      |
| See who holds which key           | [Roles, Multisig and Timelocks](https://docs.nara.io/nara-protocol/roles-multisig-and-timelocks)                                                       |
| Review the audits                 | [Code Audits](https://docs.nara.io/resources/code-audits)                                                                                              |

###


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