The foundation confirmed that the $40 million collateral gap was unrelated to the Near Protocol (NEAR tickers down $2.96) token price and that the USN Protection Program aims to fill it.

DCB stated that it was taking preventative measures to safeguard investors from a possible collapse:DCB should orderly shut down USN, according to a recommendation from the NEAR Foundation. A subsidiary of Aurora Labs, one of the most prominent contributors to the NEAR ecosystem, has received a $40 million USD grant from the NEAR Foundation to establish the USN Protection Programme. The grant, which was given to a subsidiary of Aurora Labs, was immediately made available to users for the purpose of exchanging depegged stablecoin tokens. However, redemptions will not begin until DCB begins the process of winding down. After the initial algorithmic version of USN (v1) was upgraded to v2, DCB claims that USN tokens were no longer algorithmic, making the stablecoin "susceptible to undercollateralization during extreme market conditions." Although the criteria for investors' eligibility were not made public, Near confirmed that the drive would continue for one year, until October 24, 2023. Additionally, in order to protect investors from such catastrophes, Near announced plans to establish a stablecoin-centered, funded initiative that prevents collateralization-related issues. Cointelegraph has asked the Near Foundation for comment, but they have yet to respond.