Written by: @arndxt_xo, Crypro Researcher compiled by: zhouzhou, BlockBeats

Editor's note: This article discusses the strategies and returns of several interest-generating stablecoins, including how different platforms generate returns through investment in U.S. Treasury bonds, DeFi lending and real assets. The strategies and yields of each stablecoin vary, such as obtaining returns through pledge, lending or liquidity mining. The article also mentioned the characteristics of these stablecoins, such as no lock-up and automatic cumulative returns, which are suitable for long-term investment and users with requirements for stability, and provide an innovative decentralized financial solution.

The following is the original content (the original content has been compiled for easier reading and comprehension):

What is an interest-generating stablecoin? It is a stablecoin that remains anchored at $1 while also bringing passive benefits. How to achieve it? By borrowing, pledging, or investing in real-world assets like U.S. Treasury bonds. Think of it as a money market fund on the chain, but it is programmable and borderless.

In a stablecoin market with annual transaction volumes of trillions, interest-bearing stablecoins are emerging to become:

• Savings accounts on-chain

• RWA-powered earnings products

• Alternatives for banks and fintech

• Annual yields can reach approximately 3–15% while keeping assets in US dollars

• style="text-align: left;">Next, let's break down how mainstream protocols achieve these benefits

sDAI - provided by MakerDAO via @sparkdotfi

→ Annual rate of return: approximately 5–8% (floating)

→ Strategy: DSR (Dai Savings Rate) returns from multiple sources

• Deposit DAI into Spark

• Sources of income include:

• Stability fees for loans

• Liquidation earnings

• DeFi lending (e.g. Aave)

• Tokenized assets of U.S. Treasury bonds

• Liquidation earnings

• DeFi lending (e.g. Aave)

You will receive sDAI, a token based on the ERC-4626 standard, with automatic value growth (no rebase re-set), and the yield is adjusted by the governance mechanism based on market conditions.

sUSDe – Synthetic earnings provided by @Ethena_Labs

→ Annual yield: approximately 8–15% (up to 29% in a bull market)

→ Strategy: delta neutral earnings from Ethereum

• Deposit ETH → Stake through Lido

• Short ETH on CEXs

• Financing rate + staking reward = earnings

sUSDe holders receive compounded returns. High yield = high risk, but completely independent of the bank.

sUSDS – provided by @SkyEcosystem (formerly MakerDAO team)

→ Annual rate of return: approximately 4.5%

→ Strategy: Hybrid RWA + DeFi lending

• Basic income comes from tokenized US Treasury bonds

• Additional income comes from Spark lending

• Earnings are distributed through Sky Savings Rate (SSR)

No pledge required, no locking, automatic accumulation of balances, and the governance mechanism sets the target annual rate of return of SSR.

USDY – provided by @OndoFinance

→ Annual yield: approximately 4–5%

→ Strategy: Tokenized traditional finance for non-US holders

• 1:1 Support short-term U.S. Treasury + bank deposits

• Earn like money market funds

• Due to Reg S, the revenue distribution to non-US users

is likely to be automatically accumulated, making passive income more seamless.

USDM – provided by @MountainPrtcl

→ Annual yield: approximately 4–5%

→ Strategy: 100% Supported by Treasury bills (T-Bill)

• All reserves are in short-term U.S. Treasury bonds

• Daily rebase to increase balance (e.g., daily growth of 0.0137%)

• Non-onlyUS holders

simple, stable, and completely transparent through auditing.

USDtb – provided by @Ethena_Labs and @BlackRock

→ Annual yield: approximately 3–5%

→ Strategy: Institutional-level tokenized funds

• BUIDL is a tokenized fund composed of U.S. Treasury, cash and repos (repos)

• USDtb BUIDL to support 90% reserves

• The security of traditional finance combined with 24/7 DeFi availability

is ideal for DAOs and protocols seeking security and benefits.

USD0 – provided by @UsualMoney

→ Annual yield: approximately 5–7%

→ Strategy: RWA+ DeFi + Staking Rewards

• Base income: 3–5% from U.S. Treasury

• Additional income: 1–3% from DeFi lending and liquidity mining

• Stake USD0++ → Obtain USUAL tokens (up to 60% APY)

Highly combinable, deployed on 27 chains and 30+ decentralized applications.

YLDS – courtesy of @FigureMarkets

→ Annual rate of return: approximately 3.8%

→ Strategy: Linked to SOFR (guaranteed overnight financing rate) and earnings in SEC compliance requirements

• Anchor SOFR - 0.5%

• Reserve funds are deposited in premium money market funds (MMFs) and U.S. Treasury bonds

• Daily accumulation, monthly payment of income

• Registered public securities—available for US investors

Stable and regulated, very suitable for compliant on-chain investments.

USP – provided by @Pi_Protocol_ (expected to be released in the second half of 2025)

→ Annual yield: approximately 4–5% (predicted value)

→ Strategy: Tokenized U.S. Treasury, Money Market Funds (MMFs), Insurance

• Over-collateralized RWA support

• Dual token model:

• USP (stablecoins)

• USI (earnings)

• USPi NFTs provide revenue sharing + governance rights

to align users with the long-term growth of the platform.

OUSD – provided by @OriginProtocol

→ Annual rate of return: approximately 4–7%

→ Strategy: DeFi native, automatically rebase income

• Lend USDT, USDC, DAI to Aave, Compound, Morpho

• Provide liquidity in Curve + Convex

• Rebase daily to increase wallet balance

No pledge required, no locking position.