Recently, while organizing my personal investment portfolio, I discovered a strange phenomenon:

In mainstream DeFi protocols, locking large amounts of funds for over 6 months surprisingly started to underperform some stablecoin wealth management strategies.

In a context where re-staking and DeFi yields are generally declining, a simple truth is being re-validated: the predictability of returns is more valuable than the yield itself.

Therefore, I decided to allocate some funds back to Pendle's stablecoin wealth management, which aligns with my defensive investment logic in the current market.

After all, visible returns are the most reassuring, and at this time, steady happiness is more important than anything!

Pendle now has 42 stablecoin yield pools covering 8 chains. If you are a low-risk preference investor, you can focus on stablecoin PT and LP like me.

⭐ PT: As mentioned many times in previous articles, it involves purchasing discounted assets that can be redeemed 1:1 for the underlying asset at maturity, earning fixed returns.

Currently, several stablecoin pools in the Pendle ecosystem still maintain fixed returns of 8%-13%, which is double that of exchanges.


⭐ LP: Besides simple PT, you can also buy stablecoin LPs as a way to enhance returns on PT assets. This is worth emphasizing.

LP return sources are divided into four tiers —

1) Basic APY: Derived from the underlying protocol (such as Aave's lending rates, US Treasury yields, etc.)
2) Allocate a portion of discounted PT: PT prices are usually lower than their maturity value, holding them to maturity can earn the price difference.
3) Liquidity incentives: PENDLE token rewards + sharing of transaction fees.
4) Additional project points: Some pools can earn points from multiple partnered projects for potential airdrops.

Here are some stablecoin LP pools that I pay attention to and have participated in —

1, sUSDe (Comprehensive APY: 9.63%)

Underlying asset: Ethena's yield-bearing synthetic USD, with returns primarily from staking rewards and funding interest rate spreads, while accumulating 30x Ethena sats points.

2, aUSDC (Comprehensive APY: 14.75%)

Underlying asset: USDC deposit yield anchored to Aave V3, while accumulating 24x Sonic points.

3, lvlUSD/slvlUSD (Comprehensive APY: 9.9%~16%)

Underlying asset: Generates DeFi yield compounding through Aave, Morpho, and other lending protocols. lvlUSD has no yield, accumulating 40x Level XP points + 1x Symbiotic points; slvlUSD is a yield-enhanced version, accumulating 20x Level XP points.

4, USDF/asUSDF (Comprehensive APY: 5.3%~8.9%)

Underlying asset: USDF is supported by tokenized US Treasury bonds, accumulating 35x Astherus Au points; asUSDF is a yield-enhanced version, accumulating 25x Au points.

5, SuperUSDC (Comprehensive APY: 12.91%)

Underlying asset: Returns come from the annualized lending yields of Morpho, Euler, Aave, and Fluid, while accumulating 50x Superform points.

6, syrupUSDC (Comprehensive APY: 14.4%)

Underlying asset: Returns generated by Maple's digital asset lending platform, while accumulating 5x Syrup Drips points.

7, OpenEden cUSDO (Newly launched, Comprehensive APY: 11%)

Underlying asset: Anchored to short-term US Treasury dollar-denominated yields, while accumulating 10x OpenEden Bills points.

8, fxSAVE (Newly launched, Comprehensive APY: 24%)

Underlying asset: Returns come from interest generated by collateral and trading fee dividends from the F(x) leveraged trading platform.

In summary, stablecoin LP pools can earn basic interest rates + a portion of PT returns + PENDLE token rewards + sharing of transaction fees + project points (if any).

Moreover, you can consider staking LPs in Penpiexyz or Equilibriafi for an additional layer, gaining a $PENDLE APY boost~

🚀 There is also an advanced strategy for the bold: cyclical lending.

Some protocols support using PT assets as collateral, allowing cyclical lending of new assets, which can then be reinvested into new PT or mining.

For example, PT-aUSDC on Sonic can be deposited into @SiloFinance, borrow scUSD, and then continue back to Pendle for further investment in new PT or forming LPs.

This strategy can combine PT + LP annualized returns, increasing the original fixed annualized yield of 8% to 30% or even higher.

However, it is important to note that borrowing costs should not exceed PT annualized returns; leveraging strategies can amplify de-pegging risks. If collateral ratios and underlying assets deviate, it may trigger a cascade of liquidations.

It is advisable to reserve at least a 30% safety margin and set a price alert mechanism. Players who do not understand DeFi well should simply buy PT or LP.

🔥 Summary —

In the past year, Pendle's TVL achieved a 20-fold growth, generating over $1.5 billion in actual returns and adding 320,000 users, expanding the scale fivefold year on year —

It is now not only a DeFi interest tool but has also become the de facto standard in the on-chain fixed income market. The stablecoin ecosystem has evolved from 'coarse yield aggregation' to 'fine-tuned interest engineering', comparable to the position of the fixed income sector in traditional finance's New York Stock Exchange.

As the saying goes: returns are designed!

In the past three months, the actual annualized returns of many stablecoins have rapidly dropped to 3%-5%, while the yield stability curve of Pendle's core stablecoin pools has shown rare counter-cyclical characteristics. I recommend those with idle funds to research more!

It is particularly important to remind that although stablecoin wealth management is relatively stable, one still needs to actively monitor the de-pegging risks of underlying assets —

It is advisable to prioritize stablecoins with sufficient collateral and to do more research on emerging stable options before choosing.

Pendle is merely a yield transit station and aggregator; although the discount mechanism can provide a buffer, one must still be vigilant about liquidity risks during extreme market conditions!