> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.noon.capital/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.noon.capital/1.-noon-the-basics/how-noon-stacks-up.md).

# How Noon Stacks Up

Noon is unique amongst a sea of many yield-bearing stablecoin protocols. This page is about what distinguishes its design from competitors.

## <mark style="color:$primary;">1. All-weather yield</mark>

Many stablecoin yields are strong in one market environment and fragile in another, often because they lean on a single source of return (or a small number of sources of yield).

<mark style="color:purple;">**Noon**</mark> allocates across **diversified income-generating strategies** with the aim of producing **competitive returns** through changing market conditions rather than only in limited market conditions.

{% hint style="info" %}
These are design goals, not guarantees; see [Return Generation](/3.-the-yield-engine/return-generation.md) for how the returns are actually produced.
{% endhint %}

## <mark style="color:$primary;">2. Governance token distribution that favours users</mark>

The way a protocol distributes its governance token says a lot about who it's built for.

<mark style="color:violet;">**$NOON**</mark> allocation is weighted toward the community and ecosystem rather than private investors:

<figure><img src="https://3816918787-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FL26rQzcNmiUZrCXkxkjS%2Fuploads%2F65XpBu1nRf7U6tKXu8RA%2FNoonAllocation.png?alt=media&amp;token=7fdd0f94-a61a-4d6b-bc24-a50e9d70b387" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Users start with **65%** of supply through the Community Fund. Over time, that share can rise toward 80% as Ecosystem funds flow to users through participation.

For context, most protocols distribute only **10% to 30%** of supply to their users. <mark style="color:purple;">**Noon**</mark> is built as **user-owned infrastructure**, so governance power sits with the people using the protocol rather than with early capital.

Practically, the main way to accumulate <mark style="color:violet;">**$NOON**</mark> tokens is to **build&#x20;**<mark style="color:purple;">**Noon**</mark>**&#x20;or use the&#x20;**<mark style="color:purple;">**Noon**</mark>**&#x20;protocol**. Team tokens vest over a **market-leading extended schedule** rather than unlocking at launch. The full breakdown, including vesting, is in the [**$NOON**](/4.-usdnoon/overview.md) section of these documents.

## <mark style="color:$primary;">3. Governance and value accrual</mark>

Our governance (<mark style="color:violet;">**$NOON**</mark>) and staked governance token (<mark style="color:violet;">**$sNOON**</mark>)'s their unique advantages play a key role in differentiating the <mark style="color:purple;">**Noon**</mark> protocol from other stablecoins.

1. **Optimised for Users:** We are tired of protocol users being treated as exit liquidity for early investors and the team. So we decided to **avoid investors entirely** - so the only way to get tokens is by building <mark style="color:purple;">**Noon**</mark> (\~20% of tokens) or using <mark style="color:purple;">**Noon**</mark> (65% to 80% of tokens). And all of our team tokens vest linearly over an industry leading **7 years**, ensuring that we’re building together for the long term
2. **Insurance Fund:** We believe we have built a protocol which is safer than any other. But we know things can still go wrong. That’s why we’ve created an Insurance Fund, capitalised by a portion of our raw protocol return. After the Insurance Fund is sufficiently capitalised, **excess liquidity** will be distributed to staked <mark style="color:violet;">**$NOON**</mark> (<mark style="color:violet;">**$sNOON**</mark>) token holders.
3. **Sustainable Buy-Back Mechanism:** Although we have 65% to 80% of tokens allocated to user distributions, we know that even this will run out in time. But we want to ensure that our users, especially our governance token holders, always receive some additional governance tokens on a regular, ongoing basis. So we’ve designed a unique governance token buy-back mechanism which will ensure that users receive **boosted yield in perpetuity**.

### See for yourself

The honest comparison of <mark style="color:violet;">**$USN**</mark> against <mark style="color:violet;">**$sUSN**</mark>, including when each makes sense, is on the following page: [<mark style="color:violet;">**$USN**</mark>**&#x20;or&#x20;**<mark style="color:violet;">**$sUSN**</mark>**?**](/2.-usdusn-and-usdsusn/usdusn-or-usdsusn.md)

For how the two tokens differ mechanically, see [<mark style="color:violet;">**$USN**</mark>**&#x20;&&#x20;**<mark style="color:violet;">**$sUSN**</mark>](/2.-usdusn-and-usdsusn/usdusn-and-usdsusn.md).