> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.btcd.fi/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.btcd.fi/token-overviews.md).

# Token Overviews

The Bitcoin Dollar protocol is built around three tokens that work together to deliver yield-bearing, half-volatility BTC exposure. 

**BTCD** is the base token — a peg defined as continuous 50/50 BTC/USD exposure, mintable and instantly redeemable against USDC at the protocol's peg price, making it well-suited for use as lending collateral, AMM liquidity, and options margin. 

**sBTCD** is the yield-bearing staked version: stakers receive a pro-rata share of the BTCD Portfolio's yield in excess of what is needed to maintain the peg, with payouts smoothed over a moving average to provide predictable returns and a natural overcollateralization buffer. Because every asset in the portfolio earns yield but only stakers receive distributions, yield concentrates into the staked supply — potentially making sBTCD's yield meaningfully higher than the underlying portfolio's average. 

**FISC** is the protocol's governance token, with its full scope detailed in a separate governance specification. 

Together, BTCD and sBTCD create a self-reinforcing demand loop analogous to USDe/sUSDe: users borrow BTCD against sBTCD collateral and re-stake the proceeds, generating lending yield for unstaked BTCD while concentrating portfolio yield into sBTCD — a dynamic where the more BTCD circulates unstaked, the higher sBTCD's effective yield becomes.

These tokens are explained in the following sections.