Stablecoin Yield Comparator

About the Stablecoin Yield Comparator

Stablecoin yields move every block — and the APY a protocol advertises is rarely the APY you walk away with. This comparator lets you list every yield source you're considering (Aave, Compound, Sky/Maker DSR, Ethena sUSDe, Pendle PT, Curve LPs, Coinbase Earn, Binance Simple Earn, T-bill-backed wrappers like Mountain USDM, BlackRock BUIDL, etc.) and rank them side by side on what matters: net APY after fees, real APY after the inflation/discount rate you specify, final value on your principal over your time horizon, and a risk-adjusted score.

Nothing is fetched from external APIs — you paste current rates from each protocol's UI, set your own risk band per source, and the math runs entirely in your browser. Use the preset list as a starting template for the major 2026 stablecoin venues.

Why isn't this connected to live APY data from Aave, Compound and the other protocols?

Three reasons. (1) Trust: pulling live rates from third-party DeFi aggregators (DeFi Llama, APY.vision, Dune) means we'd need to display whatever they cache, including known mislabelings of subsidized vs sustainable yield, and any aggregator outage breaks the tool. (2) Lag: published APY values lag actual on-chain reality by 30 seconds to 24 hours depending on the source; for any yield decision you'd verify on the protocol's own UI anyway. (3) Subjectivity: real yield comparison requires risk-banding (custodial vs non-custodial, audited vs new, leveraged vs simple lending) — only the user can score that honestly for their portfolio. Paste the numbers you trust, score the risk yourself, and the math is reproducible. For live rate feeds, bookmark DeFi Llama's yield page (defillama.com/yields) and copy from there.

What's the difference between gross APY, net APY and real APY in the results table?

Gross APY is the headline number a protocol advertises (e.g., 'Aave USDC 4.20%'). Net APY subtracts the fee column — performance fees on vaults, swap fees on LPs, gas amortization on small deposits. Real APY then subtracts your inflation/discount rate, giving the actual increase in purchasing power. Example: 8% gross APY on Ethena, 0% explicit fee, 3% US inflation = 8% net APY, ~4.85% real APY. If your 'inflation' field is set higher than the net APY (e.g., 8% net vs 10% inflation in a high-inflation currency), real APY goes negative — meaning the protocol is yielding less than the value erosion. That's the number that actually determines whether you're growing or shrinking wealth in real terms.

How does the risk-adjusted score work and what do the four risk bands mean?

Score = (Real APY × 100) ÷ risk factor, then normalized to 0-100 across all rows. Risk factors: Band 1 (Low, factor 1.0) = custodial / regulated / treasury-backed — Coinbase Earn, Binance regulated jurisdictions, Mountain USDM, BlackRock BUIDL, OUSG. Band 2 (Medium, factor 1.5) = blue-chip on-chain DeFi with multi-billion TVL and multi-year audits — Aave v3, Compound v3, Sky/Maker DSR, Fluid. Band 3 (High, factor 2.2) = newer DeFi, LP positions with impermanent loss, single-sided yield strategies — Curve LPs, Convex, Yearn vaults. Band 4 (Very high, factor 3.0) = leveraged delta-neutral, perp funding farming, points farming, brand-new protocols — Ethena sUSDe, Pendle PT/YT, Hyperliquid HLP. The bands are heuristics: bump up if a protocol you trust is new, bump down if you have insider visibility.

Why does the calculator ask for a compounding frequency and how does it affect results?

APY (annual percentage yield) already includes compounding — but only at the protocol's claimed frequency. For on-chain lending (Aave, Compound), interest accrues every block (~12 seconds on Ethereum, ~2 seconds on Base, sub-second on Solana), which is effectively continuous and matches the 'Hourly' setting. For T-bill wrappers like USDM/USDY, distribution is typically daily. For CEX products like Coinbase Earn and Binance Simple Earn, the protocol may compound daily but pay out monthly — use Monthly. Higher frequency = slightly higher effective yield: $10,000 at 5% APR compounded annually = $10,500; the same compounded daily = $10,512.67. The gap widens at higher APRs and longer horizons but never explodes — continuous compounding caps the effective return at e^r.

Should I really put Ethena sUSDe and Pendle PT in the same comparison as a T-bill wrapper?

Only with eyes open. Ethena sUSDe yields 10-30% in bull markets by being long ETH spot and short ETH perpetuals — the yield is essentially perp funding revenue, which collapses to zero or negative during prolonged sideways or bear markets. Pendle PT (Principal Token) locks in a fixed yield by accepting the depeg risk of the underlying yield-bearing asset for the term. T-bill wrappers yield whatever the Fed rate is, with US government counterparty risk only. Putting them in one table forces you to ask: 'Am I comfortable trading 8 points of real APY for the chance of a -50% drawdown in a black-swan funding scenario?' For most retail allocations, max 10-25% in Band 4, 25-50% in Band 3, with the rest in Bands 1-2.

What about lockup periods, withdrawal queues, and unbonding times — does the tool factor those in?

Not numerically — the Duration field assumes you can re-deploy your principal at the end of your horizon, but real protocols have exit friction. Sky/Maker DSR is instant. Aave/Compound are instant when there's free liquidity (utilization < 100%) and gated until borrowers repay if not. Ethena sUSDe has a 7-day unbonding period. Pendle PT is illiquid until maturity (typically 3-12 months). Coinbase Earn for some tokens has 14-day withdrawal queues. Bake this into your risk band: if a 12% protocol has a 30-day exit queue, treat it as Band 3 even if it's audited and TVL-rich. The tool gives you the math; the timing risk is a soft addition you carry mentally.

How accurate is the comparison if some protocols pay in their own token instead of the deposit asset?

Token-reward protocols (CRV emissions on Curve, COMP on Compound v2, MORPHO on Morpho Blue, ARB on Arbitrum incentives, OP on Optimism, etc.) report APY by valuing those rewards at current spot — which can collapse 30-80% by the time you sell. To compare apples-to-apples, enter two APYs: the base lending APY (real, denominated in the deposit asset) and the rewards APY (volatile, denominated in the protocol token). Apply a haircut to the rewards APY based on your conviction: 100% if you'll farm-and-hold, 50% if you'll sell weekly into bear conditions, 25-30% for low-conviction protocol tokens. Alternatively, list two rows for the same protocol — one base-only, one with rewards at face value — to bracket your expected return.

Is there really no protocol risk in 'Band 1' custodial / T-bill products?

There is, just different in kind. T-bill wrapped products (BUIDL, USDM, USDY, OUSG) carry counterparty risk on the wrapper issuer (BlackRock, Mountain, Ondo) and bridge/redemption process, not US sovereign risk on the T-bills themselves. Coinbase Earn and Binance Simple Earn carry full custodial risk — if the exchange becomes insolvent, your funds are unsecured claims (FTX, Celsius, BlockFi taught this lesson). Band 1 means the headline APY rarely lies and depeg/exploit risk is minimal, but black-swan custody failures still wipe positions. Geographic diversification matters: don't put all 'low-risk' yield in one US exchange or one offshore CEX. The risk-adjusted score is comparative, not absolute — Band 1 means 'safest among yield options', not 'safe'.