RAI is an ETH backed stablecoin with a managed float regime. The RAIUSD exchange rate is determined by supply and demand while the protocol that issues RAI tries to stabilize its price by constantly de or revaluing it.

The supply and demand mechanic plays out between two parties: SAFE users (those who generate RAI with their ETH) and RAI holders (those who hold, speculate on or use RAI in other protocols and apps).

Compared to protocols that try to defend a fixed exchange rate between their native stable asset and fiat (DAI/USD, sUSD/USD etc), RAI's monetary policy offers a couple of advantages:

• Flexibility: the protocol can devalue or revalue RAI in response to changes in RAI's market price. This process transfers value between SAFE users and RAI holders and incentivizes both parties to bring the market price back to a target chosen by the protocol. The mechanism is similar to countries devaluing or revaluing their currencies in order to combat a trade imbalance. The "trade imbalance" in RAI's case happens between RAI and SAFE users

• Discretion: the protocol itself is free to change the target exchange rate to its own advantage. It can attract or repel capital whenever it wants.

The long term price trajectory of RAI is determined by the demand for ETH leverage. RAI tends to appreciate if SAFE users deleverage and/or RAI users long and it depreciates in case SAFE users leverage and/or RAI users short.

To better understand how RAI behaves, we need to analyze its monetary policy which is made out of four elements:

• Redemption price: this is the price that the protocol wants RAI to have on the secondary market (e.g on Uniswap). The redemption price is used by SAFE users to mint RAI against ETH and it is also used during Global Settlement in order to allow both SAFE and RAI users to redeem collateral from the system. The redemption price almost always floats and it does not target any specific peg

• Market price: this is the price that RAI is traded at on the secondary market (on exchanges)

• Redemption rate: this is the rate at which RAI is being devalued or revalued. The process of devaluing/revaluing RAI consists in the redemption rate changing the redemption price

• Global Settlement: settlement consists in shutting down the protocol and allowing both SAFE and RAI users to redeem collateral from the system. Settlement uses the redemption (and not the market) price to calculate how much collateral can be redeemed by each user

Let's walk through an example of how RAI is revalued in case of ETH capital inflow (aka people are bullish on ETH):

• At time T1: ETH price is $500, RAI's market and redemption prices are both $5

• At time T2: ETH price surges to $1000. RAI SAFE users suddenly have more borrowing power and generate more RAI against their collateral. SAFE users sell RAI on the secondary market (Uniswap), causing RAI's market price to crash to $4

• At time T3: ETH remains at $1000 and RAI's market price is still $4. The system wants the market price to get close to the redemption price. In order to eliminate the imbalance between the market/redemption prices, the system starts to revalue RAI. Revaluing consists in setting a positive redemption rate which makes the redemption price grow every second

• At time T4: ETH remains at $1000. RAI's redemption price is now $5.1. SAFE users are starting to realize that they can now borrow less RAI per one ETH, they can redeem less ETH during Settlement (because RAI is now more expensive) and that it will be more expensive to close their SAFE once the market price follows the redemption price. At the same time, RAI holders are starting to realize that they can redeem more and more ETH during settlement and they can also "earn yield" by holding RAI and assuming that the market price will (at some point) surge toward the redemption

• At time T5: ETH remains at $1000. RAI's redemption price is now $5.2. RAI's market price surged to $5.2 as a result of:

  • SAFE users buying RAI in order to close their positions as soon as possible instead of later on when RAI is more expensive

  • RAI holders incrementally buying more RAI in order to "earn" more yield as a result of the eventual market price surge

• When RAI is devalued (in case of ETH capital outflow), the opposite thing happens:

• SAFE users realize that they can mint more RAI against their ETH and that they will be able to buy cheap RAI once the market price tanks

• Token holders realize that they can redeem less ETH during Settlement and, in order to earn money, they need to short RAI

No. The protocol doesn't change the amount of tokens you have. Rather, it changes the target (or redemption) price that the protocol wants RAI to have on the secondary market (on exchanges).

The Reflexer app is free to use. However, you will need to pay transaction fees when you interact with the protocol’s smart contracts and, depending on the features you use, fees associated with RAI itself such as the Stability Fee and/or the Redemption Rate.

The redemption rate is similar, but not identical, to an interest rate. Its role is to devalue or revalue RAI in response to market forces.

The stability fee is an interest rate charged to users who deposit collateral and mint RAI. The fee is used to incentivize external parties to maintain the protocol as well as build a surplus buffer meant to settle bad debt.

This is exactly what the system wants you to ask yourself when it charges a negative redemption rate. The system is trying to incentivize RAI holders to sell and bring the market price down and close to the redemption price.

1. When RAI's market price > redemption price for a sustained period of time, the redemption rate will become negative

2. When RAI's market price < redemption price for a sustained period of time, the redemption rate will become positive

3. When RAI's market price = redemption price for a sustained period of time, the redemption rate will settle at a steady state (that may be non zero)

We have both short and long term plans meant to attract borrowers and improve the experience of interacting with the protocol:

• Getting paid for opening and managing SAFEs: when RAI is devalued, SAFE users are "paid" because the value of their debt shrinks compared to the value of their collateral

• Capped borrow rate: in the long run, RAI will have a capped (and small) borrow rate which makes the cost of maintaining a SAFE more predictable. Governance can, in theory, set the borrow rate to 0% although this prevents the system from accruing surplus that's used to update core components such as oracles and the PID. A 0% borrow rate would also prevent the protocol from building a surplus buffer meant to settle bad debt that couldn't be covered by collateral auctions

• Insurance for SAFEs: in the long run we can allow SAFE users to attach a wide variety of insurance contracts meant to protect their positions against liquidation

• No exposure to assets with counterparty risk: RAI will only be backed by ETH. Borrowers are not exposed to riskier crypto assets or real world collateral

• Superior collateral factors: as we improve the efficiency of our and add insurance contracts for SAFEs, we can lower the collateral requirements for borrowing RAI

The following is a non-exhaustive list of use-cases we envision for RAI:

• Portfolio diversification: RAI offers dampened exposure to ETH's price moves

• Source of yield: traders can earn "yield" when RAI's market price follows the redemption price

• DeFi collateral: RAI can be used as an ETH supplement or alternative collateral in DeFi protocols due to the fact that it dampens ether's price moves and gives users more time to react to market shifts

• DAO reserve asset: DAOs can keep RAI on their balance sheet and get exposure to ETH without being affected by its full market swings

There are several risks associated with using Reflexer and RAI, ranging from smart contract bugs to suboptimal parameters set in the protocol. You can check our dedicated risks page for more details as well as read more about each protocol module.

RAI's success depends on three main factors:

1. Narrative: similar to other protocols (ranging from Multi Collateral DAI to L1's such as Bitcoin and Ethereum), people need to believe that a system works in order for it to actually work

2. Liquidity: the more liquidity RAI has, the harder it is for malicious parties to manipulate its market price

3. The presence of arbitrageurs: similar to other stable assets, there need to be traders who arb the difference between the asset's market and redemption (or target) prices

It's worth noting that the narrative attracts liquidity and arbitrageurs which in turn can further strengthen the narrative.

The best way is to reach out on Reflexer’s Discord server.