Stablecoin Yield: Live Rates and Where the Interest Comes From
Live APYs for the biggest stablecoin savings and lending products, where each rate comes from, and the risks behind yields above the Treasury-bill rate.
Current stablecoin yields
The table shows live annual percentage yields (APY) for the largest stablecoin savings and lending products, ranked by deposits. Data comes from DefiLlama and refreshes twice a day. Click a column to sort.
| Product | Where the yield comes from | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sky Savings Rate (sUSDS)Ethereum · USDS profile | 3.80% | 3.61% | $4.90B | Protocol savings rate set by Sky governance, funded by borrowing fees and reserve income |
| Maple syrupUSDCEthereum · USDC profile | 5.21% | 5.09% | $2.75B | Over-collateralised loans to institutional borrowers (private credit) |
| Circle USYCBSC · USYC profile | 3.33% | 3.25% | $2.36B | Tokenized money market fund holding short-term US Treasuries and repos |
| Ondo USDYEthereum · USDY profile | 3.64% | 3.59% | $1.22B | Tokenized note backed by short-term Treasuries and bank deposits; not for US persons |
| Ethena staked USDe (sUSDe)Ethereum · USDe profile | 5.05% | 4.93% | $1.22B | Perpetual-futures funding rates plus staking rewards on the collateral; can fall or turn negative |
| Spark Savings USDCEthereum · USDC profile | 3.80% | 3.61% | $313M | USDC routed into the Sky Savings Rate via Spark |
| BlackRock BUIDLEthereum · BUIDL profile | 3.81% | 3.72% | $240M | Tokenized money market fund for qualified investors; yield paid as new tokens |
| DAI Savings Rate (sDAI)Ethereum · DAI profile | 1.25% | 1.25% | $201M | Legacy savings rate on DAI, set by Sky governance |
| Aave savings GHO (sGHO)Ethereum · GHO profile | 4.50% | 4.50% | $174M | Savings rate paid by the Aave DAO to GHO holders |
| Aave v3 USDT lendingEthereum · USDT profile | 3.71% | 3.86% | $164M | Interest paid by borrowers; variable with utilisation |
| Aave v3 USDC lendingEthereum · USDC profile | 5.91% | 4.24% | $108M | Interest paid by borrowers; variable with utilisation |
Live data from DefiLlama Yields · updated Oct 8, 2026, 19:23 UTC
APYs are variable and historical, not a promise of future returns. Some products are restricted to non-US or qualified investors.
What is stablecoin yield?
Stablecoin yield is the return you earn by depositing, lending or holding a stablecoin in a product that pays interest. Because the stablecoin itself is designed to stay at $1, the yield is the whole return. You are not betting on price, but you take on the risks of whatever generates the interest.
The yield is quoted as an APY, the annualised rate including compounding. It is variable. Most rates move with US short-term interest rates, crypto borrowing demand or futures market conditions, and they can change daily.
Where does stablecoin yield come from?
Stablecoin yield comes from someone paying to use your dollars, or from the interest on the safe assets behind them. Knowing which source pays you tells you most of what you need to know about the risk.
- US Treasury bills (tokenized funds and notes). Products such as BlackRock’s BUIDL, Circle’s USYC and Ondo’s USDY hold short-dated Treasuries and pass the interest through. BUIDL currently yields 3.81%. This is the lowest-risk source, close to holding T-bills directly, but most of these products are limited to qualified or non-US investors.
- Protocol savings rates. The Sky protocol (formerly MakerDAO) pays the Sky Savings Rate to holders who deposit USDS into sUSDS, currently 3.80%. Sky funds it from borrowing fees and its own reserve income. Governance votes set the rate.
- Lending interest. On markets such as Aave, borrowers pay interest to stablecoin depositors. Rates rise when demand to borrow, usually for leveraged trading, rises. Aave’s USDC market currently pays 5.91%.
- Futures funding rates. Ethena’s sUSDe, currently 5.05%, earns mostly from the funding traders pay to hold long perpetual-futures positions, plus staking rewards. When markets are bullish this can be well above T-bill rates. When sentiment turns, funding can fall to zero or go negative.
- Private credit. Platforms such as Maple lend deposits to institutional borrowers against collateral. Maple’s syrupUSDC currently pays 5.21%. The extra yield is payment for credit risk: if a borrower defaults, depositors can lose money.
A sixth source, exchange and app “rewards” on USDC or USDT, is a marketing cost paid by the platform. It can stop or change at any time.
Why don’t USDT and USDC pay interest?
USDT and USDC don’t pay interest because their issuers keep the income from the reserves backing them. That income is the issuers’ business model. With roughly $314B of stablecoins in circulation, mostly backed by Treasury bills, it adds up to billions of dollars a year.
In the United States the GENIUS Act, signed in July 2025, prohibits payment stablecoin issuers from paying interest or yield to holders. The rule keeps payment stablecoins distinct from bank deposits and securities. Coins that do pay yield are usually structured as securities or fund shares, such as Figure’s SEC-registered YLDS, or are offered only outside the US. Whether exchanges may keep paying rewards on stablecoins they hold for customers has been a point of debate in Congress during work on market-structure legislation.
For a full comparison of the two largest dollar coins, see USDT vs USDC.
What are yield-bearing stablecoins?
Yield-bearing stablecoins are tokens that pass interest through to holders automatically, without a separate deposit step. They pay in one of three ways:
- Rising price: the token’s value grows as interest accrues, so it trades above $1. Examples are USYC at $1.1396 and USDY at $1.1485.
- New tokens: the price stays at $1 and holders receive extra tokens, as with BUIDL.
- Savings wrappers: you deposit a plain stablecoin and get a receipt token that earns the rate, such as sUSDS for USDS or sUSDe for USDe.
See every token in this category, with live supply, on our list of yield-bearing stablecoins and tokenized Treasuries.
What is a good stablecoin yield?
A good stablecoin yield is one that pays you fairly for the risk you take. The benchmark is the US Treasury-bill rate, because that is what the safest products earn. The median across the products we track is currently 3.80%, and the Treasury-backed funds sit close to it.
Treat anything well above that benchmark as a signal, not a bargain. Extra yield always comes from somewhere: borrowers paying up for leverage, futures traders paying funding, credit risk on loans, or token incentives that end. Double-digit stablecoin yields in 2021–22 often came from lenders such as Celsius and BlockFi. Both went bankrupt in 2022, and depositors waited years for partial recoveries.
What are the risks of earning yield on stablecoins?
The main risks are the platform failing, the smart contract being exploited, the underlying stablecoin losing its peg, and the yield source drying up. Before depositing, check each of these:
- Platform or counterparty risk: who holds your funds, and what happens if they fail? Centralised lenders failed in 2022. Check whether a product is bankruptcy-remote or custodied separately.
- Smart-contract risk: DeFi protocols can be exploited. Audits reduce this risk but do not remove it.
- Stablecoin risk: yield is worthless if the stablecoin depegs. Check its backing and live peg status in our stablecoin registry.
- Rate risk: savings and funding-based rates can fall quickly. sUSDe’s yield depends on futures funding, which can turn negative.
- Credit risk: private-credit products can suffer borrower defaults.
- Access and regulatory risk: many tokenized-Treasury products exclude US persons or require qualified-investor status. Rules can change.
How to compare stablecoin yields
- Identify the source of the yield using the five categories above.
- Compare the rate with the T-bill benchmark. Ask what explains any gap.
- Check the 30-day average, not just today’s rate. Spikes rarely last.
- Check deposits (TVL). Larger, older pools have been tested longer, though size is no guarantee.
- Read the redemption terms: can you withdraw instantly, or is there a queue or lock-up?
- Confirm you are eligible in your country, and keep records for tax.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- DefiLlama Yields — live APY and TVL data
- Sky — Sky Savings Rate (sUSDS)
- Ethena documentation — how sUSDe yield is generated
- Congress.gov — S.1582, the GENIUS Act
- IRS — Digital assets
Track every stablecoin’s supply and peg in the CoinScoop stablecoin registry.
Marcus Feld
Marcus Feld is CoinScoop's DeFi and on-chain analyst. He digs into L2 activity, stablecoin flows and protocol revenue, translating raw chain data into plain-English calls.