Midas Dollar (MDLR) · Midas Chain testnetEN
A dollar held in gold, with the gold's price hedged away.
MDLR is a synthetic dollar: a token that aims to be worth one US dollar. It is backed by gold, and the gold's price risk is offset by an equal short position, so the reserve's dollar value should hold whichever way gold moves. It runs on Midas Chain testnet today, where the gold is a mock and the tokens have no value.
Right now
How the peg holds
Gold is priced in dollars and moves one or two percent on an ordinary day. A token that owes a dollar while holding gold would be a bet on gold. MDLR removes the bet.
The gold leg
Every MDLR is minted against gold delivered to the reserve contract, valued at a median gold price from several independent sources. On testnet the gold is MockXAU, a token that stands in for one troy ounce and is backed by nothing.
The hedge leg
A short gold perpetual of the same size cancels the gold's price exposure. Long gold plus short gold is, in dollar terms, flat. On testnet the hedge is open: a short PAXG perpetual on the Pactol test venue, margined in testnet USDC. The reserves page shows its size, its margin and its profit or loss from each epoch's statement.
The buffer
The buffer is the reserve above supply, and it is issuer capital. The target is 1.08 dollars of reserve for each MDLR; below 1.02 the controller refuses new mints. A mint adds the same value to the reserve and to supply, so it pulls the ratio toward 1.00, and the buffer sets how much MDLR can be minted before the floor. Holders are never stopped from redeeming or transferring.
Redemption
Anyone can return MDLR to the controller for the reserve asset at the oracle price, less a 0.10% fee, within a disclosed daily limit. While the reserve covers supply, that is one dollar of the reserve asset per MDLR. That route is what ties the token to a dollar: below a dollar, it pays to buy and redeem. Below 1.00, each redemption is paid its pro rata share: the amount after the fee times the ratio, never more than one dollar per MDLR, so no holder gains by leaving first.
What the issuer cannot do
The MDLR token contract has no owner, no pause, no blacklist, no freeze and no upgrade path. No one, the issuer included, can stop a transfer or take a holder's tokens. What can change, in public and after a delay, is the minting and redemption rules in the controller.
Real, and simulated
The contracts, the minting and redemption rules, the price feed, the hedge and the hourly proof of reserves are real and running. The gold is not, and the hedge is on a test venue, margined in test USDC. Guide 6 sets out exactly which is which.
Where to go next
Nothing on these pages is an offer, a solicitation or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any asset, in any jurisdiction. Test MDLR is not sold and has no value.