Kerne USD (kUSD) Pre-launch Stablecoin Tracker
kUSD
Pharos can still tell you how this asset is supposed to work, when it expects to launch, and what sources to watch. Live market, peg, liquidity, and safety surfaces activate only after the first post-launch data sync.
Full launch status and history
kUSD v2 is live on Base (first PSM mint 2026-05-14), but Pharos treats it as pre-active until a usable runtime price path exists. The protocol is in a genesis, capacity-capped phase: supply is about 1,110 kUSD (1,109.71 on DefiLlama, September 13 2026), DefiLlama stablecoin id 402 exposes supply with price=null, CoinGecko does not resolve a Kerne USD coin, and the v1 WETH/Hyperliquid hedge vault leg is disclosed-degraded and excluded from reserves so kUSD is currently 100% USDC-backed through three PSM reserves. Staking wrapper skUSD (ERC-4626, 0x96F5102C15b839757f811A98CEc3725Ac21DfA14) is deployed with a published live APY but near-zero third-party stake. The previous skUSD (0xdEd74F7E) is retired. kUSD role administration and all three PSMs' administration and manager configuration are behind a 48-hour TimelockController; the 2-of-3 Safe is its sole proposer, executor, and canceller, while a fixed PauseGuardian preserves immediate Safe-triggered PSM pausing. skUSD remains directly administered by the Safe, but its non-upgradeable wrapper powers do not confer kUSD minting or PSM control. Hourly signed proof of reserves is published at kerne.fi/verify. An ungoverned kUSD/USDC isolated market on Euler v2 (Base), deployed by Kerne on August 9 2026, carried no collateral or borrows at deployment.
At a Glance
- Backing
- Crypto-Collateralized
- Governance
- CeFi-Dependent
- Peg Currency
- US Dollar
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/subscribe launch kusd-kerneActivity Timeline
Hexens audit report reissued: eight of ten KerneVault findings fixed in source, vault remains closed to deposits
The reissued final report records 10 findings, all confined to KerneVault, with eight fixed in source and two acknowledged, verified by the auditors. The vault stays closed to deposits and DefiLlama methodology treats it as superseded by a v2 redeploy, so the audited code and the deployed code still differ. Supply held near 1,110 kUSD against 1,110.89 USDC across the three PSMs (100.1 percent backing) as of September 24 2026, with no CoinGecko listing.
SourceKerne deploys an ungoverned kUSD/USDC isolated market on Euler v2 (Base)
After a five-week forum review with no curator willing to open a market, Kerne deployed an Euler Edge market itself with a fixed 1:1 oracle and 60%/65% LTV. The market held zero collateral and zero borrows at posting.
SourcekUSD and PSM administration completes 48-hour timelock transition
A 13-call operation scheduled on 2026-08-03 and executed on 2026-08-06 after 65 hours 32 minutes completed the handover: the TimelockController holds kUSD and PSM default-admin roles plus PSM manager roles, while the Safe's direct downstream roles were removed. The 2-of-3 Safe remains the timelock's sole proposer, executor, and canceller. A fixed PauseGuardian can only forward an immediate pause to the three PSMs.
SourceHexens publishes final external audit report
First external audit covering kUSD, skUSD, KUSDPSM, KerneVault, and esKERNE: 10 findings, 0 critical, 2 high; 8 fixed and 2 acknowledged, all 10 in KerneVault. The live KerneVault runs pre-audit bytecode with deposits closed pending a remediated redeploy.
SourcePatched Peg Stability Module cutover completed; minting open on Base
The patched KUSDPSM completed cutover and is live with open 1:1 USDC minting (10 bps fee) in the protocol's Genesis Phase.
SourceIndependent researcher review published
Anonymized independent researcher review published at kerne.fi/security/audits; not a formal third-party audit.
SourceFirst kUSD mint on Base through the Peg Stability Module
kUSD v2 minted 1:1 against USDC via the on-chain PSM on Base.
SourceBase synthetic dollar with USDC PSM
kUSD is Kerne Protocol's Base-native synthetic dollar. A first external audit from Hexens landed in late July with zero criticals and every finding confined to the yield vault. The audit followed a patched Peg Stability Module cutover that opened permissionless 1:1 USDC minting. Circulating supply remains at genesis scale. DefiLlama indexes the supply with no usable price, and CoinGecko still does not resolve the coin, so Pharos keeps it on the upcoming tracker. The live KerneVault still runs pre-audit bytecode with deposits closed until the remediated version deploys, so the audited code and the deployed code are not yet the same thing. Current backing is USDC in the PSM contracts, covering outstanding kUSD slightly above 1:1. The ambitious delta-neutral design, using a WETH vault and Hyperliquid short, remains degraded and excluded from reserves. Since August 6, kUSD role administration and PSM configuration sit behind a 48-hour timelock whose sole proposer and executor is a 2-of-3 Safe, and hourly signed proof-of-reserves is published at kerne.fi/verify. The durable constraint is distribution: the protocol keeps shipping before users arrive.
Updated
Discover
Hexens final audit report for Kerne Protocol (July 2026)
First external audit covering kUSD, skUSD, KUSDPSM, KerneVault, and esKERNE: 10 findings, 0 critical, 2 high; 8 fixed and 2 acknowledged, all 10 in KerneVault.
Independent researcher review (June 2026)
Anonymized independent researcher review of Kerne's contracts, published on the Kerne security page. Not a formal third-party audit.
Kerne on DefiLlama (protocol TVL)
Planned Collateral Composition
Target Chains
Links
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