How It Works

Agama has one action — deposit USDC — and two ways to take it. Alice wants targeted exposure and picks a pool directly. Bob wants diversified, hands-off exposure and mints agUSD, then stakes it for yield.

Alice, the direct depositor

Alice has looked at Agama's active pools and prefers Pool A, a private-credit pool, over the bonds pool. She deposits USDC directly into Pool A. Her return depends entirely on how Pool A's underlying private-credit book performs — she isn't exposed to Pool B or Pool C at all.

This path suits depositors who want to underwrite a specific pool rather than take the blended average across all of them. See Lending Pools for what distinguishes the pools from each other.

Bob, the diversified depositor

Bob's flow has two steps. Step 1 is the baseline position; Step 2 is optional and layers on top.

Step 1. Mint agUSD (required)

Bob deposits USDC and mints agUSD 1:1. He doesn't pick a pool — the protocol spreads his backing across Pool A, Pool B, and Pool C automatically. If one pool underperforms, it's a fraction of his exposure, not all of it. See agUSD for the full mechanics.

Step 2. Stake for sagUSD (optional)

Bob can leave his agUSD as a flat, transferable synthetic dollar, or stake it for sagUSD to start compounding the blended pool yield. Unlike Alice, Bob never has to think about which pool is doing well — sagUSD's value reflects the pools' combined performance. See sagUSD for how the yield-bearing mechanics work.

Choosing a path

Both paths draw on the same underlying pools and the same real-world yield — the difference is how much of the allocation decision Agama makes for you. See Overview for the architecture that ties both paths together, and Risks for what to weigh before depositing either way.