The Stablecoin Yield Curve: From Aave / Pendle to RWA Treasuries
Stablecoin yield is being restructured — MakerDAO's sUSDS, Ondo's USDY, BlackRock BUIDL. We chart a yield curve that spans DeFi and RWAs.
— F* Research
Stablecoins should no longer be passive USDC balances. Since 2024, the structure of on-chain stablecoin yield has shifted fundamentally — RWA-ised treasury tokens (USDY, BUIDL, USYC) plug the US Treasury curve directly into chains, while MakerDAO's DSR, sUSDS and Pendle's PT slice that curve into selectable durations and composable wrappers.
For F* Protocol's Custody module the question becomes concrete: where should idle USDC sit? It is not abstract — the idle portion of FundVault currently defaults to Aave V3, which yields about 3.8% in steady state in 2026, while the short end of the Treasury curve sits around 5%. The latter brings credit and liquidity constraints.
| BUCKET | REPRESENTATIVE | TARGET APY | LIQUIDITY | RISKS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DeFi lending | Aave V3 / Morpho | 3.5–4.2% | T+0 | Smart contract + utilisation |
| Yield tokens | Pendle PT | 5.5–7.2% | T+0 (DEX-sellable) | Smart contract + duration |
| RWA treasuries | BlackRock BUIDL | 4.8–5.1% | T+1 redemption | Credit + custody |
| RWA yieldcoin | Ondo USDY | 5.0–5.3% | T+1 | Credit + regulation |
| MakerDAO | sUSDS / DSR | 4.5–5.0% | T+0 | Governance + collateral |
This table is only the entry point. The real engineering question: when an integrating fund's Allocation Engine wants to call FundVault's idle balance, which products can be redeemed in minutes? Which take T+1? Which can freeze on an underlying credit event?
T+0 Floor
INSTANT REDEEMAave / Morpho / sUSDS — exitable in minutes anytime. The safety floor for idle USDC; trade ~100bp of yield for liquidity.
T+1 Core
RWA TIERBUIDL / USDY — yields close to the short Treasury curve, but any integrating fund's redemption window must align to T+1. Suitable for the bulk of idle capital.
Tactical
PENDLE PTPendle PT packages yield as zero-coupon-like tokens. Selectable duration and moderate secondary-market depth. Good for tactical allocation when the yield curve is visibly steep.
Yield+ Adapter in the F* Strategy Hub is not a Policy — it is a reference portfolio for idle USDC: 60% T+0 floor + 35% T+1 core + 5% tactical by default. Integrating funds can adjust these three buckets to match their own redemption cadence.
Plugging the Treasury curve into chains is not a yield question; it is an engineering question. Each yield bucket comes with a different redemption window, different credit exposure, different on-chain composability. F* puts those trade-offs at the Adapter layer rather than the Policy layer, so integrating funds can compose freely against their own strategy constraints.
Data from DefiLlama / Aave public APIs / BUIDL prospectus / Pendle dashboards, cut-off 2026-04-28. On-chain metrics are refreshed weekly at fund-vault/research/yield-curve/.