Yield-bearing stablecoins: where the interest comes from and where it ends

The new generation of stables built the yield into the token itself. The interest does not come from thin air - every product has a specific source, and that source is the risk map.

Yield sources

• US treasuries. Reserves in short-term government bonds, the coupon goes to holders. The ceiling is the Fed rate: rate cuts compress the yield toward zero. Risks: counterparty and regulatory (such a token is almost a security, hence the KYC gates).
• The basis trade (Ethena-style). Long spot + short the perp: the yield = the funding longs pay shorts. Works while the market is bullish and funding positive; in a prolonged bear market the yield goes negative, and the reserve fund's cushion becomes the product's main question.
• Lending and RWA credit. The stables work in loans; the yield = the borrowers' rate. Default and protocol risks.

The reading rule

Yield above the risk-free rate = risk taken on, even if the interface paints a "stable". The questions are always the same: the source of the interest, what happens when the source turns (rates down / funding negative / borrower default), who stands first in line for losses. A "stable at 15%" is a structured product, and it must be judged as a structured product.