BitUSD
Bitcoin as collateral for a dollar stablecoin, built for users who had never heard of collateralization.
2025
Timeline
UX/UI Designer & Frontend Developer
Role
The Problem
This BitUSD is a Bitcoin-collateralized stablecoin on RSK, not the 2014 BitShares asset of the same name. Concepts like collateralization ratios (how much Bitcoin backs each dollar minted) and liquidation thresholds (the point where a vault gets forcibly closed) are invisible to most users, until something goes wrong. BitUSD needed to surface real-time protocol risk in a way that built confidence rather than anxiety. Raw numbers without context cause exactly the wrong reaction.
The Challenge
Concepts like collateralization ratios, liquidation thresholds, and vault health are abstract and intimidating: showing raw protocol numbers without context causes anxiety rather than confidence. The challenge was making these mechanisms legible without dumbing them down. I translated protocol data into human-readable health indicators: color-coded vault status, plain-language risk warnings, and a contextual onboarding flow that explains why collateral matters before asking users to deposit any funds.
Goals
Simplify complex DeFi interactions
Design an intuitive interface that demystifies the process of minting, managing, and redeeming stablecoins. The challenge was to present technical concepts like collateralization ratios, liquidation risks, and vault management in a way that users could understand and navigate confidently without prior DeFi experience.
Build trust through transparency
Create a visual language that conveys security, transparency, and decentralization. Display real-time data about collateral, protocol health, and transaction history in clear, accessible formats that build user confidence in the system's stability and reliability.
Seamless Web3 integration
Develop a responsive frontend that smoothly integrates with blockchain wallets and smart contracts. The interface needed to handle wallet connections, transaction signing, and real-time blockchain data updates while maintaining fast performance and providing clear feedback throughout each step.
Background
Most stablecoins depend on centralized issuers or run on chains disconnected from Bitcoin's infrastructure. BitUSD closes that gap: it mints dollar-pegged stablecoins collateralized directly by Bitcoin, on the RSK sidechain.
My Role & Approach
I handled both design and frontend: translated DeFi abstractions into familiar financial metaphors, designed the full UI system with color-coded vault states, and implemented the platform in React with Web3 wallet integration and real-time blockchain data.
Process
01. Protocol Deep Dive
Internalized RSK blockchain mechanics, collateralization ratios, vault states, and liquidation triggers before designing any screen. Understanding the system from the inside out was the prerequisite for making it legible.
"Understanding how RSK liquidations worked was non-negotiable. You can't design trust around a mechanism you don't fully understand."
02. Mental Model Mapping
Translated DeFi abstractions into familiar financial metaphors: vault health → plain-language risk level, collateral ratio → visual health bar, liquidation risk → color-coded warning. Each concept got a human-readable equivalent.
"Every DeFi concept needed a translation layer. If I couldn't explain it in plain language, I couldn't design it either."
03. UX Flow Design
Designed the core user journeys: connect wallet → open vault → mint BitUSD → manage collateral → repay, with clear state feedback and contextual risk warnings at each critical decision point.
"The onboarding needed to answer 'why should I lock up my Bitcoin?' before it asked users to do it."
04. UI System & Frontend
Built the visual system with color-coded vault states and inline risk indicators, then implemented it in React with Web3 wallet integration, real-time blockchain data, and transaction state feedback.
"Color-coded vault states weren't decorative; they were the primary risk communication layer for users who wouldn't read the fine print."
Outcome
Shipped a full-stack DeFi platform on RSK that made Bitcoin-backed stablecoin minting accessible to users without prior DeFi experience. Vault health indicators, plain-language risk warnings, and a contextual onboarding flow replaced raw protocol numbers with a confidence-building experience.
Tools
